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HERO TALES 

of Congregational History 



HERO TALES 

of Congregationa] History 




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HERO TALES 

of Congregational History 



BY 



GRACE T. DAVIS 



4> 



BOSTON 
THE PILGRIM PRESS 

NEW YORK • CHICAGO 



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-^A^ 



Copyright, igo6, by 

The Congregational Sunday-School and 
Publishing Society 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two CoDies Received 

DEC. 81 1905 

Oeoyrlght Entry 

CLASS Cu XXC, No. 

COPY B. 



^ 



TO 

MY FATHER AND MOTHER 



PREFACE 



*< ^ INHERE were giants in the earth in those days." 
J. So wrote the author of the ancient Book of 
Beginnings. That was long ages ago, but ever since, in 
every generation, there have been giants, not men of 
enormous stature, or men many hundred years old such 
as the author of Genesis tells us about, but men great 
in strength of intellect and mighty in courage, men 
of marvelous genius and of Godlike spirit. It is about 
some of these giants that these stories are written. 

They are Congregational heroes, men whose great- 
ness, like near-by mountains, still overshadows us, but 
whose grandeur we can even now begin to estimate. 
Their heroism is of a sort about which it is well worth 
while to think, for it is possible for our aims and 
achievements to become to a certain extent like theirs. 
Heroes like Caesar or Napoleon most of us are not 
able to imitate, but we may copy the heroic qualities 
of Brewster and Robinson. For their church is our 
church, their adopted land our country, and their great 
Captain our Commander. We fight a similar battle 
and we may win victories somewhat like their very own. 

vii 



PREFACE 

They were spiritual heroes, and the twentieth century 
with its tremendous problems is waiting eagerly for 
their successors. 

In these narratives the writer has endeavored to 
use accurately the historical material which she has 
found. In the stories of the earlier heroes especially 
she has taken the liberty of relating imaginary conver- 
sations and actions which may be something like what 
actually happened. The bare facts which we know to 
be absolutely true have their influence upon us, but 
if we can see in fancy the Pilgrim Separatist walk- 
ing the snowy shores of New England, if we can feel 
in imagination the cold which made him tremble, if 
we can hear in the silence of our homes his words of 
courage and Godlike trust, if the imagination can make 
him real to us, his personality and his heroism have 
far larger appeal to our interest. The space available 
has not been sufficient to give fancy full play or to make 
these tales into finished stories with plots and plainly 
drawn characters. They are rather sketches, not es- 
says upon the men, not stories in the true sense of the 
word, but glimpses of various events and various peo- 
ple where something of the dramatic and heroic element 
seemed especially present. 

Different heroes have been described with varying 
freedom. In the first sketches where a far-away time 
is pictured, only a little could be taken from historic 
sources, while in one of the last, the story of Cyrus 

viii 



PREFACE 

Hamlin, every statement of what he did is drawn from 
his own books. 

If these tales can but interest some of our young 
people in the great men and the great history of our 
denomination, awakening a desire to know more of 
these crises of the Church and the way in which they 
were met, the happiness of the writer will be very 
great. 

Grace T. Davis. 

New Britain, Connecticut. 



IX 



CONTENTS 



I 

PAGE 

The Great North Road i 



II 
The Flight of the Hunted Sheep 15 

III 
The Fugitive Press 32 

IV 
On Board the Mayflower . . o 45 

V 
Squanto 57 

VI 

The First Thanksgiving . . , ^ ^ . • . 73 

xi 



CONTENTS 

VII 



PAGE 



A Wise Physician . » 83 

VIII 

The Sermon which Helped to Mold the Com- 
monwealth 95 

IX 
A Bible which Cannot be Read 104 

X 

The Prophet of Inoculation 116 

XI 
How David Brainerd Preached to the Red Men 128 

XII 
The Second Mayflower 142 

XIII 

A Historic Haystack 159 

xii 



CONTENTS 



XIV 

PAGE 

A Wonderful Camp Meeting 176 



XV 
The Iowa Band 184 

XVI 

How Cyrus Hamlin Baked Bread for an Army . 199 

XVII 
A Christian Patriot 218 

XVIII 
Afterword 235 



Xlll 



riiM^M^>^iMHiBnaMi^«M^^M«i*«k<MMferiA^tta^ 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



*^ Manor-house, Scrooby. 

/ 

The Departure of the Pilgrims from Delfshaven, July, 1620. 

5^ The Elder Brewster Chair and Peregrine White's Cradle. 

Miles Standish's Sword and Utensils. 
. The Brainerd Commemoration Tablet. 
^ Plymouth Rock. 
- The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor. 

Miles Standish and His Soldiers. 
V Governor Bradford's House. 
/ Plymouth in 1622. 
t^' John Robinson's House, Leyden, Holland. 



XV 



HERO TALES 

I 

The Great North Road 



OUT from the narrow, crowded streets of Lon- 
don far away to Scotland ran the Great North 
Road. It was very, very old, for over its rough path- 
way the Roman legions had tramped long ago, and 
even before that, in the rude days before history began, 
men had pushed on toward the north, following by 
night the cold north star, and trodden out the way of 
the road. 

But now civilization had come to gladden the coun- 
try on every side, for it was the time of the great Eliza- 
bethan age. It is true that the fences were few, and 
the North Road had never a wagon track upon it, but 
still many a gallant rider, and many a swift horse, had 
journeyed that way. The road was worn and smooth, 
and it had become one of the finer royal post routes 

I 



~'*>*<MHHfl 



HERO TALES 

of the queen. Railroads and even stage-coaches were 
unknown. 

It was a narrow track only a few feet wide, but 
along that slender thread we travel to the source of 
all our stories. For if we follow as travelers with the 
post we shall find along the Great North Road the very 
beginning of all our tales. 

Out from the narrow, crowded, hurrying streets of 
London, started the post and his companion. North- 
ward rode the post, his good horse under him, his sad- 
dlebag well lined with baize beside him, and his horn 
at his belt. Northward over the hills and through the 
valleys, on and on, until one hundred and fifty miles 
from London, the two came down into the valley of 
the Lower Trent, and alighted at last at the post- 
master's house in Scrooby. 

The little town of Scrooby was far away from any 
large city and but few people lived there. There was 
only one mansion in all the place, the manor-house. 
The land was undulating, but not hilly; peaceful and 
pleasant, but hardly beautiful. The Church of St. 
Wilfrid with its slender spire arose in the center. Not 
far away was the great manor-house where William 
Brewster lived, and here the post might always get 
fresh horses for the journey, and whatever rest and re- 
freshment he required. The postmaster of those days 
was not busied with sorting mail. He was an inn- 
keeper, the master of a place of rest and safety for the 

2 



THE GREAT NORTH ROAD 

traveler, the keeper of horses for the government ser- 
vice, an official of honor and importance. 

The postmaster who met our traveler's gaze as he 
rode in on the North Road appeared worthy of such 
a position. He was no countryman, ignorant of the 
world and its ways, but spoke with ease and a polish 
of manner which would have made the traveler, fresh 
from London as he was, a little abashed, were it not 
for the innmaster's gentleness and true courtesy. 

And, indeed, our traveler was glad enough to meet 
such a gentleman, for he was worn and tired from his 
journey. A trip from London to Edinburgh was not 
in those days the easy undertaking which it has since 
become and he was in sore need of a place to rest over 
the Sabbath. 

" Good evening and welcome to you, sir," ex- 
claimed Master Brewster, as Thomas Loveland, after 
crossing the moat, alighted at the door of the old 
manor-house. " You have had rainy weather for your 
journey. Come in by the fire." 

It was a cheerful scene which met the traveler's 
gaze as he entered. A roaring fire sent its gay sparks 
dancing up the chimney, a comfortable easy chair stood 
before it on the one hand, and on the other, an oak 
table with a book and sheet of paper, ink-horn and pen 
spread out upon it, giving hint of culture and scholarly 
taste In some one of the postmaster's family. But 
Thomas Loveland's gaze returned even from the glow- 

3 



■^mm 



HERO TALES 

ing flames to dwell upon the face of his host. It was 
not one of beauty, but the features promised a manly- 
strength of character, and a certain serious kindliness 
which Master Loveland was wise enough to perceive. 

" I fear I have interrupted some one here," he said 
with a wave of his hand toward the table. " Can you 
not join me while I have something to eat and drink, 
and finish your task? Or, if you have the leisure of 
an hour, I should be glad of some one with whom I 
could talk." 

But Master Brewster was already hastily gathering 
up the book and writing materials which he carried 
over to the opposite end of the room and deposited in 
an old cabinet. 

" My task is one which can wait," he answered. 
" I will go out and order John to bring in something 
for your refreshment, and will join you again presently. 
I should have laid aside my writing sooner, but the 
shutters were closed and I did not hear the sound of 
the horse's hoofs as I usually do." 

He went out and Thomas Loveland, in a restless 
tour of the room, curiously glanced at the cabinet, won- 
dering what his host had been studying. The book had 
vanished into a drawer of the old case, but by accident 
one leaf of the written manuscript had fallen. As he 
stooped to pick it up the traveler saw written at the top 
and underscored as a title, " Notes of Richard Cart- 
wright's Book." 



THE GREAT NORTH ROAD 

Thomas Loveland held it In his hand while a curi- 
ous smile played over his face. To own a copy of 
Cartwrlght's works and to study them — well, that 
was not heresy, for Cartwrlght was still In the Church, 
but It was playing with fire. What manner of man 
was his host? Dimly he remembered hearing that the 
country about Gainsborough and Scrooby was a nest 
of vipers, a dangerous section, and that the bishops had 
had much to do In their endeavors to root the poisonous 
pests out. Perhaps he had lighted on some bit of the 
evil. 

The door creaked and William Brewster entered. 
His guest, surprised, let the piece of paper flutter from 
his hand, but It was slow In falling and ere It reached 
the floor Master Brewster had perceived It. 

" Oh, so you alighted on a bit of my notes," he 
said calmly as he slowly set the tray he had himself 
brought, down on the little table. 

" Yes,'' replied Thomas Loveland, somewhat em- 
barrassed. " It lay there on the floor, but I merely 
read the heading." 

" You know of Cartwrlght, of course," said Master 
Brewster, eying his guest more narrowly as he seated 
himself at the little table. " Are you a University 
man? " 

" Yes, from Oxford; and you are from Cambridge, 
I presume, her very liberal sister," remarked Master 
Loveland as he applied himself actively to the loaf set 

5 



HERO TALES 

before him. " She leads us a great chase in new ideas 
these days, and turns out some strange doctrines. Do 
you not think so? " 

" A variety of ideas must come of necessity from 
any university so large, and with so great a multitude 
of students," replied Master Brewster somewhat eva- 
sively. *' But tell me what is going on at your alma 
mater of late. I was formerly at the center of things, 
near the queen's court itself, but since Providence has 
sent me hither, I hear little of the gay doings of the 
cities and universities save what comes by way of the 
post." 

" But that is something. You have one of the chief 
stations here, and the passing between London and 
Edinburgh grows more frequent every year. How long 
have you been the postmaster? " 

" For three years. My father held the office before 
me, so I was born and bred to the work." 

" Ah," said Master Loveland, " then you are a 
native of this section." He was silent for a moment, 
and then gazing at the fire remarked, " But you asked 
me of Oxford. Of course much of the talk is of affairs 
of court, and the doings of King James. The college 
has not yet ceased talking over the canons decided upon 
at the convocations in Canterbury and York and the 
demands which were made from the clergy. It natu- 
rally concerns closely those who were planning to enter 
the Church." 

6 



jj i if i ^^. 



THE GREAT NORTH ROAD 

He glanced at his host, but the latter's face was 
Inscrutable, so Master Loveland proceeded. " But 
have you not entertained the king here? Did he not 
pass through Scrooby on his way from Edinburgh in 
1603?" 

" Yes," replied William Brewster. 

" It was just after that the people presented their 
most insane Millenary Petition, pretending that they 
wished to reform the abuses of the church," remarked 
the traveler. 

Winiam Brewster sat upright. " The makers of 
the Petition were not mad," he exclaimed. " I consider 
the Millenary Petition to represent one of the sanest, 
fairest, and most righteous of public movements. It 
was signed by a multitude of upright and thoughtful 
men." 

Thomas Loveland looked at his host with Interest. 
The postmaster's face was stern and a tempest of quiv- 
ering emotion was behind his voice, but the tone was 
self-controlled, although the eyes were kindled like 
coals. The traveler was satisfied. He was merely 
inquisitive as to what manner of man this might be. 
Was he one of the persecuted band of Brownlsts with 
whom much of the talk of the time had been busy since 
Barrowe and Greenwood had been put Into the Clink 
Prison? Perhaps. If so, he was a curious animal, 
worth the study of an Inquisitive mind. 

But Master Loveland was too sleepy for even the 

7 



>»i 111 • i«W 



HERO TALES 

most Interesting of investigations to-night, so after a 
few more commonplaces, he took his candle and de- 
parted from the cheerful glow of the fire to one of 
the upper chambers in the old manor-house. 

The sun was high the next morning when, after a 
sound night's sleep, and a good breakfast. Master 
Loveland stood refreshed at the door of the old manor- 
house looking out upon the fields of Scrooby. The 
whole earth seemed clad in its Sunday best, and al- 
though a rather level and commonplace stretch of 
country met his eye, it was a pleasing scene. The 
thrift and neatness which characterize most of Old 
England's landscapes were not lacking here. Every 
acre had been cultivated and improved by the labor of 
man, and, although it was late fall, and the air was 
crisp and cold, the sun shone out far more gaily 
than it ever did among the smoky streets of London, 
and the traveler's gaze rested with satisfaction upon 
the level fields of the manor-house, and the well-kept 
outbuildings at hand. A few trees were scattered here 
and there, and not far off was the little village with its 
white houses, through the midst of which the tribu- 
taries of the Trent lazily ambled on their way to the 
ocean. 

Here and there a woman, or a farmer clad in the 
broad-brimmed hat and close-fitting doublet, and some- 
times wearing the stiff ruff of the day, appeared, and 

8 



•«H«*M»4«fi»>'' 



THE GREAT NORTH ROAD 

several turned In at the manor-house, and hastening 
around to a door at the side disappeared from view, 
casting curious glances at Master Loveland as they 
passed. 

" It seems to me there Is a deal of business going 
on here for the Sabbath day," said Thomas Loveland 
to himself. " I wonder where all these folk are going. 
I believe I'll take a little stroll about the house, the 
morning Is so fair, and get a breath of this wonderful 
air, and see what there Is to be seen at the same time." 

All about the stables and sheds seemed very still as 
Master Loveland strolled toward the rear of the great 
manor-house. 

It was rather a stately dwelling for those times, 
and In comparison with the houses of the village, a true 
palace. The owner was the archbishop of York, and 
this was one of his summer homes where he might hunt 
and fish and rest from the duties of his office. There 
were three fish-ponds In which fish was always abundant. 
The manor-house Itself contained thirty-nine cham- 
bers, some of them lined with carved oak panels and 
beams. Master Brewster's father had been postmaster 
here before him and the office had descended naturally 
to his son after his return from court and diplomatic 
duties in which he had been engaged as a youth. 

One wing the pious owner had devoted to a little 
chapel which had entrances both Into the manor-house 
and out to the open air, and It was through this latter 

9 



k'4.9^-A4L!k.^^ *- -'* ^- •-- .-• " ^^ 



HERO TALES 

door that Master Loveland saw another of the many- 
visitors who had overtaken him In his leisurely stroll 
now disappearing. Thomas Loveland hesitated but a 
moment. A curious smile played about his lips, a little 
roguish, and just a trifle disdainful, then without more 
ado he too rapped at the selfsame door, and pushed It 
boldly open. He found himself in a little vestibule, 
but just opposite a door stood ajar. He peered In, and 
then softly entered. He was in the little chapel. In 
front was a timber altar, and reading-desk. There 
were a pair of organs also, and a clock which In those 
days was a most uncommon luxury, imported to Eng- 
land from the Continent. This one, however, was 
out of repair and hung useless, lacking weights and 
cords. 

No one noticed him at first, for the faces of the 
congregation were, to a person, bowed in prayer. In 
the midst one man was standing, his hands uplifted, and 
his face bared. 

" We turn our faces and mouths unto thee, O most power- 
ful Lord and gracious Father, humbly imploring help from 
God towards those who are by men left desolate. There is 
with thee no respect of persons, neither are men less regarders 
of thee if regarders of thee for the world's disregarding them. 
They who truly fear thee, and work righteousness, although 
spoiled of goods, destitute of friends, few in number, and 
mean in condition, are for all that unto thee, O gracious God, 
nothing the less acceptable. Are they not written in thy 
book ? Towards thee, O Lord, are our eyes ; confirm our 

lO 



THE GREAT NORTH ROAD 

hearts, and bend thine ear, and suffer not our feet to slip, or 
our face to be ashamed, O thou both just and merciful God." i 
" Help us to learn to fear thee, who art a great King, and 
whose name is terrible, even the Lord of hosts. To thee, 
through Christ, the only Master and Teacher of the church, 
be praise for ever. For Jesus Christ's sake, show thy mercy 
in all our aberrations, and discover them unto us more and 
more ; keep us in, and lead us into thy truth ; giving us to be 
faithful in that we have received, whether it be less or more ; 
and preserving us against all those scandals, wherewith the 
whole world is filled. Amen." ^ 

Before the speaker had ended Thomas Loveland 
had sunk into a seat and had bowed his head with the 
others. When he raised it he became conscious that 
he was the object of most intense scrutiny. It was quite 
a congregation which occupied the little chapel, men, 
women and children. The seats behind pulpit and 
reading-desk were unoccupied; but, instead, two or 
three men sat in common chairs facing the people. 
There was no choir, no surplice, no sign of ecclesiastical 
office upon any. The silence reigned unbroken for a 
few moments, during which the leaders consulted to- 
gether. Then two, one of them William Brewster, 
approached him. 

" With what purpose do you come among us, 
friend? " asked Master Brewster. 

^ Apologia. Concluding paragraph. 

^ Justification of Separation. Concluding paragraph of Works, 
Vol. II. With the changes and omissions of a very few words these 
prayers are taken fi*om the printed works of John Robinson. 

II 



HERO TALES 

Master Loveland hesitated. " With no clear pur- 
pose," he answered at length. " I was wandering about 
the manor-house for the enjoyment of the morning 
sun and air, and seeing so many enter here I pushed in 
after one of your number. But I will go, of course, 
if you desire it." 

William Brewster glanced at his companion, the 
man who had led in prayer, with some perplexity. 
*' What do you say. Master Robinson? " he queried. 

" If he desires light upon the truth," he replied, 
" or religious instruction or consolation, we must not re- 
fuse to offer him all that lies within our power, but if 
he come hither out of idle curiosity or worse, he can- 
not wonder that we do not welcome him. What is 
your opinion, friends and brethren? Master Clyfton, 
Master Bradford, what shall we say?" 

The two addressed, one of whom was a very young 
man indeed, looked at each other, and then the elder 
arose to his feet. 

" Is it lawful for us to meet with those who are 
not of our persuasion?" he said slowly. ^' By join- 
ing with them or they with us in the true worship of 
God, do we not by this allow that their acts are right, 
and connive at their sin? And so do we also become 
guilty of the same sin." 

Master Loveland had arisen also. " Nay, I would 
not cause you any qualms of conscience — not even the 
slightest doubt in the breast of the least among you," 

12 



THE GREAT NORTH ROAD 

he exclaimed. " Nor need you fear any III report 
which I might spread concerning you. I surmise well 
enough of what sort this meeting Is, and know a little 
of what some of your friends have endured. You have 
separated from the Church of England and set up a 
private worship here. Barrowe and Greenwood and 
their Imprisonment have reached my ears, and I had 
understood that there were Brownlst congregations In 
this vicinity. As for myself, I am neither with you nor 
against you. Religion sits but idle upon my stomach, 
and I would as soon be a Turk as a Brownlst. It Is 
true I am Interested In these strange dissensions, these 
religious fevers which do attack men, and have been 
much entertained by this brief glimpse of your com- 
pany. But I am ever glad to see men prosper rather 
than suffer, and should be as sorry as you to have any 
harm arise from my Intrusion. Master Brewster and 
your friends, allow me to depart now without more 
ado, for I have Interrupted your service longer already 
than I would, and may the part which remains more 
than compensate you for that which has been lost 
through my coming." 

So saying. Master Loveland, with his most courtly 
bow, withdrew, the men and women all rising with 
bows and courtesies as he passed out. 

And so with Master Loveland we have gotten our 
first glimpse of some of the heroes about whom we are 
to hear. The following morning he rode out once more 

13 



HERO TALES 

upon the Great North Road ; on toward Scotland, past 
hamlet and river, field and forest, northward toward 
Edinburgh. Through sunshine and rain, by noon and 
late at night, he rode, and at length arrived again In 
the crowded streets and narrow ways of a great city. 
Far behind him in the little village of Scrooby, he left 
the serious, pious little congregation, and amid the rush 
of other things they soon slipped from his mind. But 
during that peaceful Sabbath morning he had come 
near the beginnings of a great movement, the first dawn 
of a new conception of truth which was to reach across 
a mighty stretch of waters, and illumine the civilization 
of the new world. 



14 



II 

The Flight of the Hunted Sheep 



A PERIOD of severe testing lay before the little 
congregation which Thomas Loveland had so 
surprised in the old manor-house at Scrooby. Hith- 
erto they had lived comparatively unnoticed, careful in 
their new form of worship not to attract the attention 
of any bishop or official who might disapprove of their 
separation from the state church, and the little com- 
pany had grown fast both in numbers and in mutual 
helpfulness. They trusted one another Implicitly; no 
man there but was ready to share his living with any 
brother or sister who was needy; not one who was not 
moved by an Inspiring purpose which was stronger than 
the love of life Itself. In that little church every heart 
was noble, every man a hero. 

The king had at length awakened to the full reali- 
zation of their presence and the bishops were only too 
ready to urge him on to deeds of persecution. In the 
words of one of the Separatists themselves, " they could 

15 



HERO TALES 

not long continue in any peaceable condition, but were 
hunted & persecuted on every side, so as their former 
afflictions were but as flea-bitings in comparison of these 
which now came upon them. For some were taken & 
clapt up in prison, others had their houses besett and 
watcht night and day, & hardly escaped their hands; 
and ye most were faine to flie & leave their houses & 
habitations, and the means of their livelehood. Yet 
these & many other sharper things which af fterward be- 
fell them, were no other than they looked for, and 
therefore were ye better prepared to bear them by ye 
assistance of Gods grace & spirite." ^ 

But these things could not always be borne or the 
little community would have been annihilated, so it was 
decided at length that the congregation should emigrate 
in a body to Holland, where there was religious tolera- 
tion and liberty of conscience. Now the strangest thing 
in the whole matter was the fact that, while the Sepa- 
ratists were threatened with exile if they persisted in 
worshiping by themselves instead of attending the regu- 
lar worship in the state church, still when they desired 
to go away quietly all together they were not able to 
get permission, but were compelled to steal away if pos- 
sible without attracting any notice from the officers or 
any one unfriendly to them. 

A large party made an attempt to escape in the fall, 
and hired a ship which they were to have wholly for 

^ ** History of Plimouth Plantation," pp. 14, 15, 

16 



^'^.i'.f-r*'"" rr^' 



THE FLIGHT OF THE HUNTED SHEEP 

their own use. But the captain was unfaithful, and, 
after they had taken their hard journey to the sea and 
got on board, he betrayed them all Into the hands of 
officers, who searched them and took away all their 
possessions, and then cast them Into prison, where some 
of them were obliged to remain for a time. 

But nothing destroyed the purpose of this daunt- 
less little church, and In the spring they decided to make 
another attempt. One or two of the leaders when at 
Hull on business happened to become acquainted with 
a Dutchman who owned a boat of his own, and at last 
they decided to take him Into their confidence and seek 
his help. 

As It proved he was willing to undertake the adven- 
ture, the bargain was soon made, and the date set for 
sailing. Most of the little company must have been 
In readiness since their attempted escape the fall before, 
and had lived along In as easy a manner as might be, 
waiting for another opportunity to present Itself, so that 
the final preparations were soon made for a second 
attempt at flight. 

In the midst of all the packing and preparations of 
the Separatist Church for the journey to Holland came 
the Sabbath, a day of beauty and peace amid the 
stress of work and anxiety, and, faithful to their stand- 
ard of right, the Pilgrims kept It truly and without toll, 
despite all the duties which pressed them. Pastor 
Clyfton preached a long sermon In the morning, and 

17 



HERO TALES 

loth to part from the meeting-place where so many 
had found their beloved Christ, they assembled once 
more in the evening for a brief service of prayer 
and praise. But even that at last came to an end, and 
one after another the little company passed linger- 
ingly out. 

Among the last was a young man, apparently not 
more than eighteen years of age, whose open, ingenuous 
face, and observant, quick glance would have attracted 
attention in almost any company. He stood beside the 
doorway talking to a young woman while they awaited 
the coming of some of the elders who had paused in a 
little group behind for a few last words. 

^' Now Cometh the time of testing again," said the 
maiden seriously. " In a few more hours the suspense 
will be over.'' 

" Yes," replied the young man. " I have been very 
doubtful, Alice, of our wisdom in trying to cross in so 
large a company. It is less lonely, of course. Some of 
the brethren hardly know how to go about so long a 
journey, and it would be a fine thing for all to land 
together in the new home. But since our attempted es- 
cape last fall, I have very much doubted as to whether 
it can be done." 

" You were one of those who suffered most. Master 
Bradford," said the girl, looking up at him with sym- 
pathetic eyes. " I heard about the prison, and though 
it is not a matter to speak about overmuch, I have often 

i8 



m^gjm^g^t. 



THE FLIGHT OF THE HUNTED SHEEP 

wished I might tell you how sorry I was that you were 
obliged to undergo such hardships." 

William Bradford looked admiringly at the close- 
capped maiden beside him in her long cloak, but when 
she turned her serious gray eyes upon him, his own fell, 
as he stammered somewhat awkwardly his thanks. 
Alice Carpenter was a tall woman, one of those who 
by the erectness of her carriage and the seriousness 
of her bearing appeared already to be a woman upon 
whose strength a discouraged or weaker sister might 
lean. She was one of four sisters who lived in the large 
house at the corner opposite the chapel with her father 
and mother, Alexander and Elisabeth Carpenter. Alex- 
ander Carpenter was one of the capable men of the 
community, and his four daughters filled an important 
place in the little congregation of Scrooby, for they were 
consecrated, earnest Christians, as well as self-reliant 
women of an unusually brilliant and noble type. Alice 
Carpenter was the leader of the four, and was especially 
beloved by every one in the parish, among whom were 
not wanting many suitors for her hand, although she 
was still very young. One of these, Edward South- 
worth, was an especial friend of her father's family, 
and usually enjoyed the privilege of being her escort, — 
a privilege which the younger man, William Bradford, 
who was still little more than a boy, accepted with great 
pride whenever Master Southworth was compelled to 
be absent. 

19 



HERO TALES 

Alice Carpenter had always taken a peculiar inter- 
est in the young fellow who, unprompted by any family 
friends, — nay, on the contrary hindered by them — had 
of his own accord tramped Sabbath after Sabbath across 
the fields from Austerfield to the meeting of the Sepa- 
ratists in Scrooby. It was no half-hearted interest 
which he had shown, and he had become no lukewarm 
member, for the previous fall, when the proposed es- 
cape to Holland had finally been attempted, he had 
thrown in his fortune with the rest, leaving his business 
matters, as he was not yet of age, more or less in the 
hands of his incensed uncles, and had endured his part 
of trial by prison as well as the elders themselves. He 
was of true steel, this young man from Austerfield, and 
like an elder sister, although there was but little differ- 
ence in their ages, Alice Carpenter showed him her sym- 
pathy and admiration, and it was to her, as well as to 
her father, that he had often turned for help and 
counsel. 

" You had very little cause to pity me, after all," 
William Bradford said confusedly. " I was shut up for 
only a month while Master Brewster and some of the 
others were held a great deal longer. Besides, I had no 
family cares weighing upon my mind, and a young man 
can always adapt himself to a little adventure, or at 
least ought to be able to do so." 

" Yes, I suppose so," replied Alice Carpenter. " I 
only hope that we women may not prove a fetter in the 

20 



^4(m\mimmt(r\\: m 



THE FLIGHT OF THE HUNTED SHEEP 

present undertaking. We must take up the part of 
adventurers too, and try to catch a little of your spirit, 
seeing we have left the needle and the spinning-wheel 
behind us for a time. But here comes Edward South- 
worth. God be with you until the morrow." 

" And with you, too," replied the young man ear- 
nestly and as Alice Carpenter left the manor-house 
chapel he watched her cross the driveway and disappear 
into the darkness. 

It still lacked two hours of sunrise when William 
Bradford and the rest tramped out of the town the 
following morning and their departure was very quiet. 
When daylight came the company broke up into groups 
of twos and threes in order that they might attract the 
less notice, and so with packs over their shoulders, some 
by one path, some by another, taking short cuts as often 
as possible, they slipped along from village to village. 
It seemed like merely a spring walk at first as William 
Bradford struck out gayly with his friend Thomas 
Tinker, across the fields with their fresh, green coat 
of grass, adorned here and there with the spring 
violets. 

But the pack on his back grew heavier, and with it 
his heart, as they proceeded, leaving behind them one 
familiar village after another, and allowed themselves 
silence to think for a little of the enterprise they were 
attempting. Their thoughts could not rest wholly upon 

21 



HERO TALES 

their own danger, moreover, for at the same time the 
women were being conveyed together with their goods 
by boat down the Idle to the mouth of the Trent, 
whence they were to go by bark, around the coast, past 
Hull towards Great Grimsby. Here in a little creek, 
near a large common, at some distance from the town, 
they were to be met by the captain and taken aboard. 
Could the two companies, the one comprising the men, 
and the still larger one with the weak women and help- 
less children, possibly escape the diligence of their 
enemies, and would the captain keep faith with them 
or only betray them to the officers, as the English cap- 
tain had done but a few months before? 

" I doubt very much," said Thomas Tinker de- 
spondently, "If we ever succeed. Why, it would be 
little short of a miracle for so many people to leave the 
country together unnoticed ! Every farmer who sees us, 
every child even, will wonder why so many strangers 
are passing his way and when we reach the creek, if 
indeed we do, matters must be hurried to the utmost not 
to lose one Instant In getting water between us and the 
shore." 

) " That Is true enough," replied William Bradford. 
" We must do our very best to make haste at the last. 
But notwithstanding everything, our affairs are In God's 
hands, and If we should be caught, they would doubtless 
but send most of us back to our homes again, or else to 
exile, which Is the very thing we are seeking. Perhaps 

22 



THE FLIGHT OF THE HUNTED SHEEP 

we shall be facing home again, Brother Tinker, within 
a few days only." 

William Bradford's face lighted up as if the 
thought were not wholly unpleasant after all, but his 
companion looked at him with anxiety. 

" We should be sorely disappointed," he said. 
*' But come. Master Bradford, is not this the right hand 
turning just beyond the river, which Master Brewster 
told us to take ? We must keep up a sharper pace, too, 
or our friends will be overtaking us and we shall not 
reach the grove in time for our share of lunch. Who 
put up your basket of provisions for you, William? " 

" Mistress Elisabeth May," replied William Brad- 
ford; "and Mistress Alice Carpenter added some of 
her sweet flat cakes, which have the caraway seeds 
strewn on them. Perhaps you may have tasted them at 
some time." 

" Oh, yes," replied Thomas Tinker, " every one in 
Scrooby knows Mistress Carpenter's flat cakes. Ed- 
ward Southworth will have fine dinners if he win the 
heart of that maid. But we must not talk too much, 
and save some breath for that steep hill yonder. My 
bundle is growing heavier, too, with every mile, and I 
think we shall need all our patience before the day's 
march is over." 

It was a tired company indeed that rested, some of 
them in the woods, some in an old barn near Caistor 
that night, and a still more weary band that arrived 

23 



HERO TALES 

at the little creek near Grimsby on the following morn- 
ing. The sun was already high in the heavens when 
they came within sight of the shore, where they hoped 
to find the women and children perhaps already aboard 
the bark, so that nothing would remain to be done 
except to join them. 

What was their disappointment, then, to see no 
large ship awaiting them, but on the other hand the 
boat which had borne their families and possessions 
down the shore to meet them stranded in shallow water, 
as if it had no notion of ever going out into the waves 
again. 

"What can have happened?" exclaimed Master 
Brewster in great dismay. '' Run, Will, and see if you 
can wade out far enough to get to her, and hear what 
has happened. I hope there has been no accident." 

With rolled-up trousers William Bradford set out, 
jumping carefully from stone to stone, and managed 
at last to reach the little sailing-boat where he scrambled 
up to the deck. There, sitting and reclining in various 
ways against the sides of the boat or boxes of goods, 
he saw many of the women he knew, whose pale and 
worn faces told him their journey also had not been 
an easy one. 

"What IS the matter. Mistress Carpenter?" he 
asked as that tall young woman hurried past him, a 
steaming cup in one hand and a towel in the other. 
" Why are you all caught thus up here upon the shore, 

24 



THE FLIGHT OF THE HUNTED SHEEP 

when we had hoped to be aboard the captain's vessel 
before long? '* 

" And where is the vessel which you expected to 
see us boarding? " replied Alice Carpenter. " It is 
true we are caught just now, and have got to wait for 
the tide to lift us, but we could do nothing else except 
wait, even if we were out there, where last night the 
wind tossed the boat about like a cork. No, 'tis noth- 
ing but seasickness — commonplace seasickness which 
has driven us in here, but you need not frown or laugh 
either, Master Bradford." 

" I was not frowning," protested William Brad- 
ford. " Only the women should not have let so 
small a thing be the cause of any risk to our 
plan." 

" Oh, I know you are not frowning outwardly, but 
you men are all so apt to think us weak, and that we 
yield unnecessarily to trifles. No, I was not sick — here, 
Agnes, answer that for me — but some of the women, 
and the children, too, were truly so ill that I was very 
fearful for them. And if the men had been in our situ- 
ation I know they would at least have been in as much 
of a hurry as we were to get to a quieter place. But 
how did your party get through — ^without any adven- 
tures at all?" 

" Yes, very quietly," replied William Bradford. 
" We — but look there ! There is the Dutchman's ship 
coming this moment around the bend ! Oh, would you 

25 



HERO TALES 

were out In the bay now, so that we could all be aboard 
and off in an hour! " 

Alice Carpenter looked where the young man 
pointed, and her look of half-laughing excuse faded. 
" Oh, I wish we were ! " she exclaimed earnestly. 
" How long will it take, do you think, for the tide to 
raise us? " 

" Three hours at least." Together they stood 
gazing eagerly upon the advancing ship. 

" She looks seaworthy," said Alice Carpenter. " I 
am so glad the captain has kept his word to us, but 
how I wish we had not gotten into this predicament! 
If we could all have gone aboard from this boat, and 
then it could have gathered you men from off the shore, 
we could have been ready to start soon." 

" That was what we planned," said William Brad- 
ford seriously. " But It cannot be helped. Now I 
must make haste back to Elder Brewster, for I have 
already delayed longer than I should, talking. They 
are all very anxious over there to hear just what the 
trouble was." 

" Seasickness — ^just a little seasickness," said Alice 
Carpenter mournfully. William Bradford smiled a 
little — the defensive words of excuse had changed 
so quickly to regret and self-accusation after the 
ship had appeared. Then he waded out into the 
water. 

Much anxiety prevailed on shore when he explained 

26 



THE FLIGHT OF THE HUNTED SHEEP 

the situation, for every moment of delay now added ten- 
fold to their peril. 

A boat sent out by the Dutch captain carried one 
or two of the elders to the ship, where they discussed 
the chances of getting aboard. 

" There Is nothing that we can do except to send 
the small boat backward and forward, taking the men 
off as swiftly as possible, and hoping that by the time 
we have finished, the boat where the women are may 
be afloat," said the Dutch captain. " It is no fault of 
theirs. The man who managed her should have seen 
to It that he was not caught In such manner. All right, 
men," he shouted. " Pull over to the shore again, and 
bring out another party." 

The Dutch ship lay of necessity some way from the 
land, and the row seemed long, but it was not a great 
while before a few more men reached the vessel, among 
them William Bradford. He was the last to scramble 
up to the deck, and just as his foot touched the planks, 
he was astonished to hear the burly voice of the captain 
swearing roundly. 

" Sacremente ! " he exclaimed. " The officers have 
caught us," and without waiting for consultation or 
thought, for which indeed there was no time, he ordered 
his man to hoist the boat, pull up anchor, spread sail, 
and before William Bradford realized what had hap- 
pened the ship was in motion. Behind them on the 
shore he saw a company of armed men together with 

27 



HERO TALES 

an excited crowd of onlookers advancing upon his 
friends. The latter, after standing firm in a body for 
a moment, broke and scattered, running hither and 
thither like so many excited sheep, so that the offi- 
cers succeeded in capturing only a few of them. All 
this occupied but a few minutes, and as the vessel 
rounded the bend of land, William Bradford saw a 
company of officers turn down the shore toward the 
boat. 

** They are after the women and children,'' ex- 
claimed Master AUerton, beside himself, sinking down 
with his head buried in his hands. " To think that I 
am safe aboard this miserable ship, while my wife is 
left there to endure their fury ! Captain, turn this ves- 
sel about to shore ! I want to go back." 

" Not I," said the captain. " If you but stop to 
consider a moment you can see that it would be mad- 
ness. Your friends were wise people to scatter, and so 
you are also to flee, if possible. For what can the offi- 
cials do with a company of blameless women and chil- 
dren? There is no law by which they can be con- 
demned, and they will find opportunity to join you, if 
you yourselves, the real offenders in the eyes of the law, 
can but once reach Holland. Cheer up, friends. We 
have got as well out of this pickle as any one could hope 
after that foolish grounding of the bark, and even if it 
were not so, I would not turn back, to let them get a 
clutch of me, for more money than you can offer. So 

28 



THE FLIGHT OF THE HUNTED SHEEP 

bear off, boys, bear away now. We've a good wind, 
and away we go." 

The captain's words, although they seemed but cold 
comfort to the ears of Master Allerton, were for the 
most part full of common sense. The men had indeed 
scattered, each for himself, as they knew that not one 
of them could help another even if they lingered, while 
each one who escaped might possibly be of service. 

So but few of them were taken, and the women and 
children, together with all their possessions, were the 
greatest part of the capture. They were all thoroughly 
searched, and everything available carried off by the 
officers, after which they were thrown into prison to 
await the decision of the courts. In the words of Wil- 
liam Bradford, '' Being thus aprehended, they were 
hurried from one place to another, and from one jus- 
tice to another, till In ye ende they knew not what to 
doe with them ; for to imprison so many women & inno- 
cent children for no other cause (many of them) but 
that they must goe with their husbands, semed to be 
unreasonable and all would crie out of them; and to 
send them home againe was as difficult, for they 
aledged, as ye trueth was, they had no homes to goe 
to, for they had either sould, or otherwise disposed of 
their houses & livings. 

" To be shorte, after they had been thus turmolyed 
a good while, and conveyed from one constable to an- 
other, they were glad to be ridd of them in ye end 

29 



HERO TALES 

upon any termes; for all were wearied & tired with 
them. 

'' Though in ye meantime they (poore soules) in- 
dured miserie enough; and thus in ye end necessitie 
forste a way for them! " ^ 

Now, as for the men in the Dutch captain's vessel, 
they were indeed in no enviable condition. All their 
goods in most cases had been stowed away in the boat 
where the women were, so that they were left absolutely 
destitute, some without money, and some without change 
of clothing, or many of the seeming necessities of life. 
Their great venture had failed; their wives and chil- 
dren were in prison, suffering they knew not what ; they 
themselves were on the way without friends to an un- 
known land, where the most they could hope for was 
but a bare subsistence, to be wrested from this strange 
people, by occupations to which they were wholly unac- 
customed. No wonder that their hearts were faint, 
and that they had need of all their Christian fortitude 
and trust in God. 

For a few days out the weather was fair, speed- 
ing them on their way with favorable winds, but at 
last even this consolation left them. The sky grew 
dark, heavy winds arose, and there burst upon them such 
a storm as the sailors had never before encountered. 
Steady and staunch as the little vessel was all at length 
gave up hope. 

^ "History of Plimouth Plantation/* pp. 20, 21. 

30 



THE FLIGHT OF THE HUNTED SHEEP 

For seven days, sun, stars and moon were alike 
unknown. Many times it seemed as if nothing could 
longer save them from going down together into a 
watery grave. Confusion and despair reigned among 
the Hollanders, but the sturdy Pilgrims were still 
undaunted. 

Amid showers of water as the drenching waves 
swept the deck, they still retained their self-control, and 
cried earnestly upon God, repeating over and over 
again when almost despairing of hope, " Yet, Lord, 
thou canst save ! Yet, Lord, thou canst save ! " 

And at last, their escape, which seemed little less 
than a miracle, came. The wind ceased, the clouds 
lifted, and fourteen days after leaving the shores of 
England, they arrived at their port in Holland, al- 
though the ship was in a badly damaged condition. 
Together the little band of Pilgrims went up to the 
city of Amsterdam, where their friends joined them in 
parties of twos and threes. All plans for a general 
exodus were from this time given up, but in little com- 
panies, some in one way and some in another, they were 
at last reunited once more. 



31 



mmt^^mm^'mt^kf^m^ ■ 



Ill 

The Fugitive Press 



THE little church of Scrooby lived in Amsterdam 
not quite a year. The life here was a great 
change for them, coming as they had from a quiet 
farming community into the hurry and bustle of a for- 
eign city where every one spoke in an unknown tongue. 
It was not easy to live thus, but the people adapted 
themselves as well as they might to their new surround- 
ings, learned trades, and engaged in all sorts of indus- 
tries. 

Theirs was not the only British church in Amster- 
dam, for it had long been a place of refuge for the 
oppressed. The Ancient Exiled English Church was 
here, the Scotch Presbyterian Church, the Poor English 
congregation, and their old neighbors, the Gainsbor- 
ough Church; so that they found opportunities for 
Christian fellowship which it might have been supposed 
would prove a great advantage. But such was not the 
case. 

32 



THE FUGITIVE PRESS 

It was not long before quarrels and dissensions 
arose In the neighboring churches, so that they became 
hotbeds of ill feeling rather than places of peace and 
inspiration, and any efforts at peacemaking seemed but 
to foster the growth of the poisonous weeds. The 
leaders of the little Scrooby church became alarmed. 
Were they, too, to fall into such hatreds and dissen- 
sions as had diseased the neighboring churches? It 
would be better to undergo any hardships rather than 
to fail so miserably. Every day they were incurring 
the danger that the partisan interests of some of their 
own members might become inflamed. The poison was 
too deadly for them to abide with safety in the neigh- 
borhood, and they removed as a congregation to Ley- 
den, then one of the most beautiful cities In the world. 
Although only one-third as large as now it possessed 
many advantages, among them a great university, much 
vigor of thought and interest in the great Ideas of the 
age, beauty both of natural location and of architecture, 
and flourishing business Industries, chief among which 
were the woolen manufactures. 

Here the Separatists employed themselves in vari- 
ous trades and prospered, although attended by many 
disadvantages. Some became baize and serge weavers, 
wool-carders, spinners or wool-combers; others, hat- 
makers, rope-makers, twine-twisters, carpenters, masons, 
bakers, brewers, and pipe-makers. 

A large house with a court at the rear was pur- 

33 



yxjrra..-^^:'^^— ^ 



HERO TALES 

chased by Pastor Robinson and three of the other Sepa- 
ratists and within this little court humble dwellings were 
built for several of the congregation. Probably others 
settled near by, so that Bell Alley, as it is called, close 
under the shadow of the great St. Peter's Church, be- 
came a little Separatist neighborhood, and here they 
lived, labored and worshiped for several years. 

It was not long before several marriages took 
place, as the city records prove, for marriage was a 
civil affair In Holland, and was not performed by min- 
ister or priest as now, and this custom the Separatists 
carried with them when they moved to their new coun- 
try. In these records may still be found the names 
of many of the Separatist fathers and their brides, 
although some of them are hard to discover In their 
Dutch disguise of strange spelling. 

It Is In the civil archives of Amsterdam, however, 
not of Leyden, that we find a marriage record In which 
we shall perhaps be interested. Dorothy May was 
probably a member of the congregation in the Ancient 
Church, and in some way had met Master Bradford 
during his sojourn in Amsterdam, but in any case we 
have the record dated on the 8th of November, 1613, 
that William Bradford, a fustian worker " van Closter- 
feldt In Englandt " gave notice of his engagement to 
" Dorothea May, van Witzbuts, In Englandt," and on 
the thirtieth day of the same month, they were mar- 
ried in that city. Much feasting and merrymaking 

34 



THE FUGITIVE PRESS 

doubtless followed each of these events, for that was 
the custom of the day, and there is no reason to sup- 
pose that our Pilgrim forefathers refused to enjoy 
themselves in any way which seemed to them right, 
stern and rigid as they were in following the path of 
difficult duty. 

After his marriage William Bradford returned to 
Leyden and here he lived, busy at his humble trade of 
a fustian worker, and gradually obtaining a position 
of much influence and respect in the little community. 

His friend, Alice Carpenter, in due time was mar- 
ried too, to young Southworth, and many other friends 
followed their example, some of them taking wives 
from among the Dutch neighbors, and identifying 
themselves in other ways with the foster city of Ley- 
den. Nor were they engaged alone in the material pur- 
suits of their neighbors, for we find traces of them in 
the literary life of the town. Pastor Robinson and 
others were matriculated in the university and shared 
its privileges and protection. Two of them at least 
became interested in a printing enterprise, the story of 
which has come down to us and affords a true picture 
of a condition of things very different from anything 
we have to-day, an adventure which it would not be 
possible now to repeat. 

A printed book was regarded very differently in 
1 6 19 from the way in which It is now. The book 
which you hold in your hands Is a comparatively Inslg- 

35 



.» "^ ■*» 



HERO TALES 

nificant thing — one perhaps taken from a large library 
of volumes; only one of thousands which were printed 
the same year in this great country of ours; only one 
book among the many which you will read this year — a 
thing to furnish amusement or instruction for an hour 
or two, and then to be tossed aside to make way for an- 
other. 

But in 1 619 a book was a very different matter. 
It was something little short of witchcraft, that printed 
page, which could be multiplied so rapidly by the magic 
power of the press. An untruth, an error, might be 
sown broadcast by the printer over the entire land and 
the poison take root in a thousand minds. " The cus- 
tody of the hand printing-press there was regarded then 
as dangerous a thing as the custody of dynamite would 
be now. It was most carefully locked up every night, 
in order to prevent secret printing.'* ^ 

In 161 5 there were only thirty-three hand printing- 
presses in the city of London, and everything which was 
printed by these was most carefully inspected by the 
official appointed for that purpose. In this way noth- 
ing could possibly be printed except what would meet 
the king's approval, and it is needless to say that the 
printing of Separatist ideas was an impossibility. 

In Holland, however, the press was not as care- 
fully watched, so that it became possible for Thomas 
Brewer to set up books with type which he kept in the 

* E. Arber, "The Story of the Pilgrim Fathers," p. 19. 

36 



THE FUGITIVE PRESS 

garret of his own house, and then to have thera struck 
off by some printer whose name is unknown. WilHam 
Brewster himself did a great deal of the actual work, 
while Master Brewer furnished the money for the 
enterprise. 

Everything went smoothly with the printers at first, 
and a number of books were printed, when at last a 
copy of " Perth Assembly," by David Calderwood, a 
book in favor of the Scottish Kirk, fell Into the hands 
of Sir Dudley Carleton, and brought about all the mis- 
chief. The king at this time was endeavoring to de- 
stroy the Church of Scotland, and to establish the 
Episcopal Church In Its place. This book, which de- 
scribed one of the most Important of the general as- 
semblies of the Church of Scotland, contained much 
which would have proved destructive to the king's 
plans, and his officials were Instructed to be tireless in 
Its repression. By a similarity of type, this book was 
Identified as coming from the Pilgrim Press, and an 
untiring hunt for the printers began. 

Thomas Brewer was captured without much diffi- 
culty, but little was proved against him. He was held 
In prison, however, for a long time, being sent over to 
England in the meantime for examination before King 
James, but as he was a member of the Ley den Univer- 
sity he was by the law of the time saved from much 
which he might otherwise have suffered. 

William Brewster was more fortunate. Hunted 

37 



^ "fc-BS 



HERO TALES 

out of Leyden, he was for a long time pursued from 
one place to another, but at length the officers con- 
gratulated themselves that they had him within their 
power. 

He had returned after many hurried flights to Am- 
sterdam, Leiderdorf, and other places, to pay a secret 
visit to his family, when he was taken sick there. Here 
he was housed in a little house on the Choorsteeg, an 
alley which leads up from Broadway to the Choir of 
St. Peter's Church.^ 

Dusk was deepening into night on Thursday, the 
nineteenth of September, 1619, when William Brad- 
ford ran up the steps of the little house, and hurriedly 
knocked for admittance. 

"Where Is your father. Love?'* he asked of the 
sturdy little boy, who had come running to unbar the 
door. " Show me where he is, quickly, little man, for 
I have important news for him." 

Without a word Love mounted the stairs, and only 
looking around to see if Master Bradford were follow- 
ing him pushed open the door at the right. Master 
Brewster was sitting quietly, his face turned toward the 
window, through which he could see the red glow of 
the sun, which had sunk below the dikes. 

" Ah, William, welcome. Sit down in my big 

^ There is much uncertainty as to the whereabouts of Brewster and 
his family during all this time. See Arber, Chapter xxv, especially 
pp. 199— 211 ; also Dexter*s **The England and Holland of the 
Pilgrims,** p. 580. 

38 



THE FUGITIVE PRESS 

chair here. You are good to come in to pass away an 
hour for me. How is your little wife, Dorothy May? " 

William Bradford sank into the chair with a long 
breath of relief, for he had been walking rapidly. 
" She is well, I thank you. But I have come with bad 
news, elder,'* he went on quickly. " The officers are 
coming here to-night for your arrest. If we cannot get 
up some plan speedily, everything will be lost." 

" Oh, no, not everything," interposed the elder 
with a weary smile; " only one more person will have 
to be bothered with courts and judges. I shall but 
keep friend Brewer company." 

'' But it will not come out so," exclaimed William 
Bradford tempestuously. " You must and shall es- 
cape, God willing, for we cannot afford to lose you. 
How much can you walk?" 

" I have walked about the room twice this after- 
noon," said Elder Brewster quietly, " but Mary said 
I ought not to stir." 

" Well, you will walk more to-night, will he not. 
Mistress Brewster?" William Bradford said to the 
woman who had come to the door and was standing 
silently listening. 

" Yes," said Mistress Brewster. " How large a 
bundle shall I gather up for him to carry with him. 
Master Bradford?" 

" Ah, there speaks somebody who is ready for 
deeds and will not waste our time with words," laughed 

39 



HERO TALES 

Elder Brewster. " I will not carry any bundle this 
time, Mary. I shall make shift In some way, and be 
back again before you know It." 

William Bradford shook his head a little, but 
turned the conversation to the exits of the house, the 
streets which could be reached from St. Peter's 
Church, the darkest by-paths, and cuts across to the 
more obscure homes of one or two of the Separatists. 
In half an hour all was arranged, and it was agreed 
that an hour later Master Bradford should return with 
one or two of the others to assist in the escape. 

It was completely dark when at eight o'clock they 
stole out of the little door at the rear of the house and 
close to the old St. Peter's Church, and Mary Brewster 
softly closed and bolted it behind them. The high 
belfry above their head shut out the light of the moon 
which was just appearing above the tiled roofs of the 
city. Behind them they could hear the cry of the 
watchman on Broadway. A little boy, belated while 
on some errand, darted around the corner before them 
and disappeared. In every house lights could be seen, 
but the streets were very dark, for this was long before 
the lighting of public highways. 

" How do you feel, elder? " inquired Pastor Rob- 
inson anxiously. 

" A little trembling, I will confess It," replied 
William Brewster. " But be of good courage, brother. 
Now which way are we to turn? " 

40 



■■«-** *» .^i-^i.^ . 



THE FUGITIVE PRESS 

" Down this way, down this way," said William 
Bradford in a low voice. '' Feel your way! Close to 
the wall of the church ! There are steps here." 

Slowly the little company crept down, reaching out 
their hands to learn by touch all that was possible in the 
dense darkness, when suddenly, directly In front of 
them, they heard the tramp of several feet. A swing- 
ing lantern appeared, and then another. They lit up 
the faces of the men who carried them, who were in 
uniform. 

" Back, up the steps, and cling close to the wall of 
the church behind the tower," whispered William Brad- 
ford. " It is the baihff himself." 

With tottering feet Elder Brewster was hurried up 
the steps he had so tremblingly descended, and the 
whole party shrank close to the friendly brick walls, 
scarcely daring to breathe as the officer and his men 
swept by them. 

In the house next to that of William Brewster, 
Raynulph Hausen sat beside the fire rocking his baby. 
It was the first son, a sturdy little fellow, the joy and 
pride of his father's heart, and as he rocked him he 
watched his wife stirring the kettle and getting ready 
the dishes for supper with great satisfaction of mind 
and body. It had been cold that day out in the streets 
and shops where Raynulph had labored ever since day- 
break. He had been well chilled many a time, but now 

41 



HERO TALES 

the warmth of the fire crept up his legs, and he stretched 
his feet out to the blaze for a good toasting. The fire- 
light flashed over the well-polished pewter which was 
stacked upon the shelf above his head, now lighting 
up a plate, now a tankard, now with the catching of a 
fresh stick throwing the warm glow even upon the 
baby's little plump face. 

It was too comfortable. Raynulph's head began to 
nod, dreams of the day's work began to mix themselves 
with his reverie over the fire. Now he was selling cloth 
once more to a customer, the piece suited, the price was 
paid and the man departed. But no, here he was back 
again ; he flung the door open with a heavy crash which 
startled the shopkeeper in his task of replacing the 
goods. What a stormy customer ! What could he have 
found wrong, for now he was swinging his purchase 
violently about the head of Raynulph himself. 

"What do you want?" he shouted at him. 

" I want you," replied the customer, and Raynulph 
started up. 

A baby's crying rang from the cradle at his feet; 
before him stood a burly officer brandishing his club, 
while a body of men were huddled in the background, 
between him and his weeping wife. 

" What's all this about? " asked Hausen in a con- 
fused way. " Am I still asleep? " 

" I rather think not," said the officer bullyingly. 
" You are arrested by order of the chief constable." 

42 



J^^U:^' 



THE FUGITIVE PRESS 

" On what charge? " 

"You know well enough; I have naught to do 
with explaining it." The bailiff's voice was thick. 
Raynulph Hausen saw at a glance that he had been 
drinking. 

" Can none of you men tell me for what I am 
arrested? " he demanded. 

" Keep quiet," replied the bailiff, raising his club. 
" I, — hie, I didn't bring them to talk, I — I'll do the 
talking myself." 

Raynulph Hausen laughed and turned reassuringly 
to his wife. " Don't worry, little girl. It is some mis- 
take, but since I cannot find out the meaning of it here, 
I had better go with this man quietly. Here, take the 
boy out of the way. I'm ready, bailiff," and taking 
the cap and coat which the trembling wife brought him, 
he walked out in the midst of the armed guard. 

It was all over in a few minutes. Half an hour 
later he was In the guard-house, and by that time Wil- 
liam Brewster was out of harm's way, safe because of 
the blunder of a drunken bailiff. 

The vigilant officers did not again discover his 
whereabouts. For nearly a year he was carefully 
shielded by the members of his little church, until he 
with them left Holland forever. The faithful elder of 
the little flock could not be spared, as Bradford had 
said, by the people. In the forming of whose future he 
was to play so Important a part. It was God as well 

43 



HERO TALES 

as the congregation who thus protected William Brews- 
ter from the wrath of the English king. 

Brewer, after being held in prison for a time, was 
at length released about a month before his death. 
The types which the printer had used were discovered 
in the garret of Brewster's house and seized. The door 
of the garret was nailed in two places, and the seal of 
the officer was placed upon the lock and nails. 

Thus ended the Fugitive Press of Leyden and all 
Its work — a work regarded at that time as the spread- 
ing of a deadly pestilence, a work which we of to-day 
know was but the earnest, loving service of light and 
truth. 



44 



^'J^\^£J<;l^."^ I li < I n n HI »w Miji 



IV 

On Board the Mayflower 



ELEVEN years had passed over the little church 
in Leyden. On the whole they had been happy, 
successful ones, but still there was much that troubled 
the hearts of the Pilgrim Fathers. Some of their 
friends who had planned to join them In Holland had 
been unable to do so because of the strangeness of the 
land and the difficulty of earning a living there, accus- 
tomed as they were only to farming. 

Old age was carrying away a number of the first 
comers, and there seemed none to take their places. 
It was impossible, to any extent, to reach their Dutch 
neighbors with these new teachings, friendly though 
they had been; Impossible in any way to reform their 
Sabbath, which, according to the Pilgrims' stand- 
ard, was very loosely observed. As for their children, 
among whom they might have expected to find many 
new and ardent supporters, they found Instead the cause 
of their greatest sorrow, for many of them, through 

45 



HERO TALES 

the hardships and poverty of their lives, grew old be- 
fore their time under their burden of care and work, 
while others, despairing of any joy or hope in so stern 
a church, left the faith of their fathers, and lived lives 
very far indeed from the standards which had been held 
before them. 

Then, too, poor and struggling as they were, it had 
ever been the burning desire of the Pilgrim Church 
to carry their message of light and truth to others 
more unhappy than themselves. They longed to be 
a missionary church, and so great was their zeal 
that they were willing not only to send missionaries 
as their representatives, but as a congregation to 
go to some land where the ignorant ones might be 
found. 

All these reasons aroused their leaders to the discus- 
sion of plans for emigration, either to America, Guiana, 
or some other warm country. 

For many reasons America seemed to promise most 
to them, although every attempt at colonization was 
attended at that time with the greatest hardships and 
dangers. Colony after colony had failed in Virginia, 
but the faith of the Pilgrims was boundless. If It were 
God's will he could sustain them in every trial, in the 
wilderness of America just as securely as amid the civ- 
ilization of Holland. Many negotiations were carried 
on both with the Virginia Company and with the 
Dutch, but at length an agreement was reached between 

46 



ON BOARD THE MAYFLOWER 

the Pilgrim Fathers and a company known as the Mer- 
chant Adventurers. 

Two vessels were fitted out and filled with those 
who were willing to go, the Mayflower and the Speed- 
well. The latter, however, proved unseaworthy, and 
after two attempts to leave England, they were at last 
compelled to abandon her, as she leaked too badly to 
admit of any long journey. 

A long journey indeed It proved to be. With over 
a hundred people on board, the Mayflower struggled 
on for over nine weeks through fair and stormy 
weather. When land was at last sighted it proved so 
difficult for the ship to reach Hudson River, where the 
Pilgrims had planned to settle, that they gave up this 
determination and being driven by a seemingly irre- 
sistible fate upon the shores of Cape Cod, they decided 
to make that their home. Their first harbor was at 
Provincetown, where before anchor was cast a most 
Important event occurred on the Mayflower. 

In the captain's cabin a body of men were gath- 
ered, standing packed closely together, shoulder to 
shoulder, each one listening with a serious, thoughtful 
face. Above the desk hung the rough chart of the 
times. There was no barometer, no thermometer in the 
cabin, no electric light, or buttons to call any servant to 
the captain's command. No lamp even ! Nothing but 
a rude lantern which swung suspended from the ceiling 
overhead. In one corner stood a little cask half-filled 

47 



HERO TALES 

with gunpowder. From a nail beside the door dangled 
a heavy sword. A broad sheet of parchment lay spread 
out upon the desk, and John Carver stood resting 
one hand upon it as he talked. 

" Friends, there has been some appearance of fac- 
tion among us. This may not have come to the notice 
of all of you, but to some of us It has been very plain. 
They are only a few, but there do exist those who 
are not well affected to unity and concord. So consult- 
ing together, and with as many as has been possible, 
some of us decided to call you here to-day that we 
might consider some means for obtaining peace and 
safety through an orderly government. We are far 
from home. There is no way in which the king's laws 
and statutes may be administered among us save 
through our own will and action. We must have an 
association and agreement binding us together in one 
body. Then each member, nay rather, each inhabitant, 
must be obliged to submit to such governors and gov- 
ernment, as we shall, by common consent, choose and 
form. It is the only way in which we can prevent dls- 
orderllness or protect ourselves and families against the 
crimes of any malicious person." 

Master Carver paused and glanced about upon the 
faces before him. " Is there any one here who does 
not agree to this? " he asked. 

A man who had been leaning against the door, 
drumming against it impatiently now and then, took a 

48 



ON BOARD THE MAYFLOWER 

step forward and looked up at the faces of those 
near him. 

John Carver's kindly look faded. " Well, Master 
Billington," he asked, " have you anything you would 
say to us? " 

" No, there's no use for me to say aught now. The 
plan Is already made and finished, I see, by the few 
who plan to run us all." An indignant movement 
swept through the little company. " All I have to say 
is, if the king could be here you would not dare thus to 
assert powers which have been given you by none." 

Something very like a laugh sounded behind the 
speaker. " Of course, if King James were here we 
would not need or desire another governor," said a 
voice. " But he would hardly come across to superin- 
tend the little village we are to build on yonder shore, 
and my hearing is not so keen as yours. Master Billing- 
ton. I cannot hear his voice across the waters, for the 
noise of the waves. So what shall we do now?" 

" Oh, you will sign it ! You will all do as you are 
told, and so shall I, too," replied Master Billington 
sullenly. *' I shall sign It. Go on with your planning." 

There was silence for a moment and then the calm, 
unruffled voice of Carver again was heard. " Elder 
Brewster and Edward Winslow have a compact pre- 
pared for our discussion. Master Winslow, will you 
read it?" 

A man of medium height with thick, curling locks 

49 



HERO TALES 

advanced to Master Carver's side. He Is one of the 
little company whose portrait has come down to us — a 
man of kindly, far-seeing eyes, and firm mouth, one of 
the future governors of the little state. Taking the 
parchment from the captain's desk he read : 

" In ye name of God, Amen. We whose names are 
underwriten, the loyall subjects of our dread sover- 
aigne Lord, King James, by ye grace of God, of Great 
Britaine, Franc, & Ireland king, defender of ye faith, 
&c., haveing undertaken, for ye glorie of God, and ad- 
vancemente of ye Christian faith, and honour -of our 
king & countrie, a voyage to plant ye first colonic in ye 
Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents sol- 
emnly & mutualy in ye presence of God, and one of 
another, covenant & combine our selves togeather into a 
civill body politick, for our better ordering & preserva- 
tion & furtherance of ye ends aforesaid; and, by vertue 
hereof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just & 
equall lawes, ordinances, acts, constitutions, & offices, 
from time to time, as shall be thought most meete & 
convenient for ye generall good of ye Colonic, unto 
which we promise all due submission and obedience. 

" In witnes wherof we have hereunder subscribed 
our names at Cap- Codd ye 1 1. of November, in ye year 
of ye raigne of our soveraigne lord, King James, of 
England, France, & Ireland ye eighteenth, and of Scot- 
land ye fiftie fourth. Ano: Dom. 1620." ^ 

^ "The History of Plimouth Plantation," p. no. 

50 



ON BOARD THE MAYFLOWER 

" Has any one noticed any point which he would 
wish to question or discuss?" asked Master Carver, 
when the steady, deep voice of Edward Winslow had 
finished. There was silence. " Do you all agree to 
this compact without change or any discussion concern- 
ing It? Is It your wish that we should sign It as It is 
now worded? " 

A deep murmur of assent broke over the little com- 
pany. " Is there nothing any of you wish to say? Will 
you sign It as it is now written without word or ques- 
tion? Master Billington, do you object to anything? " 

Silence for a moment as John Billington moved 
uneasily but finally muttered that he had no objec- 
tion. 

" Then, as you all agree thereto, you will sign it as 
it stands, and after all have written we will proceed to 
the election of the governor." 

So saying, John Carver drew a pen toward him and 
signed his name round and full to this most Important 
contract. William Bradford, Edward Winslow, 
William Brewster, Isaac Allerton and Miles Standish 
quickly followed him, after which all the other mem- 
bers of the little company came forward one by one, 
including John Billington. 

After all the names were written Master John 
Carver was chosen by the company as their governor 
for the time being, until greater leisure should allow 
them to form more completely their miniature repub- 

51 



HERO TALES 

He, to frame Its laws and eleet its offieers as future con- 
ditions might prove best. 

" We shall have trouble with that fellow some 
day," whispered Miles Standish to Isaac Allerton as 
Billington left the cabin. " I do not see by what means 
he ever obtained leave to join us." 

" Nor I, either," answered Master Allerton. " But 
he Is here, and there Is no way now to rid ourselves of 
him. However, we have something now behind us for 
authority, if It be only this slip of parchment which we 
have ourselves written, and we must take care to nip 
all unlawfulness in the bud for the sake of our families 
and our fa'th." 

" This day Is an Important one for our colony," 
said Miles Standish. " We are at last joined together 
in form as well as in spirit." 

That scene in the cabin of the Mayflower has been 
pictured many times. Well it may be. The compact 
registered the feeble beginning of the free action of 
Americans who have learned that they have power to 
govern themselves. 

It was Saturday, the eleventh day of November, 
1620. The Mayflower was within Provincetown Bay 
at last, where Captain Jones was quietly tacking about 
seeking the most favorable place for landing, for the 
water was exceedingly shallow all along the shore, so 
that nowhere could the Mayflower come nearer than 
three-quarters of a mile. Many of the past few days 

52 



ON BOARD THE MAYFLOWER 

had been cold and bleak, but this morning the sun shone 
out warm and full of good cheer; after many weeks of 
peril and suspense they were at last close by dear 
mother earth once more; to-morrow was the Sabbath, 
but the next day some of the party would go on shore ; 
gladness and eager expectation, mingled with many 
anxious forebodings, filled every mind. 

Mistress Brewster and Mistress Dorothy Bradford 
had obtained permission from Captain Jones to sit up 
on the forward deck, where in a snug little corner be- 
hind the ship's long-boat they would be out of the way 
of the sailors, and at the same time be sheltered from 
whatever cold breeze blew in from the ocean. The 
sunshine shone warmly on them, the low-lying shore 
was before them, and between the two on a folded 
shawl was the youngest member of the party, little 
Oceanus Hopkins, who had been born during the 
voyage. 

Dorothy Bradford tucked the little form up snugly. 
He was fast asleep. 

" This fresh air and the sunshine will do him good,'* 
she said. " It is hard for a little baby to be so long 
shut up in the close cabins." 

" Hard, indeed," replied Mistress Brewster, " but 
not so hard as for the others, for little Oceanus knows 
nothing about it." 

" Oh, yes, he knows. He's only a baby thing, but 
you know, don't you, Oceanus?" said Dorothy Brad- 

53 



HERO TALES 

ford, stooping down to kiss the wrinkled little hand, 
and small, claw-like fingers. " Poor little fellow, he 
grows thinner every day, but you know that you can 
sleep better out here in the sun, don't you, Oceanus? " 

" There, be careful, child, you will wake him up. 
How glad I shall be Monday if we can go out to the 
shore to wash! Oceanus shall have a clean blanket 
then instead of that dirty cloth." 

" I know that I shall enjoy it better than anything 
else I ever did in all my life," said Dorothy Bradford, 
looking mournfully down at her blackened kerchief. 
" The men do not care as we women do about being 
clean, but even Will said he hardly believed he could 
endure it much longer. What would neighbor Suisse- 
roth say if she could but see me! I expect she has 
scrubbed her sidewalk twenty times since I left." 

Goodwife Brewster smiled a little sadly. " It is 
best not to think too much about those behind us if we 
can help it," she said. " We must think instead of the 
things before us. Look there at the trees on the shore. 
How many do you think you could name? " 

" They are too far off for me to see clearly," said 
Mistress Bradford. " But they all look strange. Even 
the sky and the water look strange to me to-day, as if 
they were not real, but only a painted picture. I can 
see far more plainly the room at home with the little 
table where my sewing always lay, and the picture of 
the English lane upon the wall. Last night I was walk- 

54 



ON BOARD THE MAYFLOWER 

ing in my sleep up the old lane at father's home again. 
I do not believe I shall ever walk over those strange 
sands, and through those low woods over there.'' 

'^ Why, Dorothy," interrupted the older woman, 
almost sternly. *' What strange fancies ! You are 
surely not one of those who look back after having set 
their hands to the plow." 

" No," replied the young wife musingly. " I would 
not turn back, but still I feel in some strange way as if 
all this wild life were not to be for me. There is a 
spell upon me of things far away." 

" Cast It off then," exclaimed Goodwife Brewster 
decidedly. *' You must not yield yourself up so easily 
to mere impressions. Look over there, dear little good- 
wife. See! there is one of the whales spouting about 
which we have heard so much. Captain Jones said that 
we might have made many thousand pounds If we had 
but had the spears and means to take them." 

" Yes, William was quite excited by them," said 
Dorothy Bradford. " And Captain Jones said that he 
was coming back for them next winter. Will said that 
there was no such whaling even In Greenland." 

" The fowls are plentiful, too. They will make a 
great addition to our stock of provisions. If we could 
have had one of those for William Button a week ago 
perchance he might have recovered. The poor fellow 
pined sadly for some fresh meat, and Dr. Fuller will 
miss him greatly. Well, It Is to be wondered at that 

SS 



HERO TALES 

we have had no other deaths among us. Dr. Fuller's 
servant and that ungodly sailor are the only ones. The 
Lord has indeed preserved us." 

" Truly, indeed," admitted Dorothy Bradford. 
*' How that wicked sailor did rail upon us who were 
sick, and how he spurned us! But truly he suffered 
worse than did we all, at last. I never before saw 
judgment follow so swiftly upon the wicked, as upon 
that ungodly man. Your poor little boy. Wrestling! 
How he did curse him when he was seasick! But 
there, little Oceanus is waking up! See, Oceanus! 
There, do not sob, I am here, little one." 

Little Oceanus in his dirty blanket was lifted softly 
in Dorothy Bradford's gentle arms. Some little feel- 
ing of love and sunshine and warmth reached even his 
baby brain and he feebly smiled — the first time. Be- 
fore him, too, lay the bleak coast, and the cold which 
by and by was to loosen his little feeble grasp upon 
life, but now he only smiled and cuddled up happily 
against Dorothy Bradford's neck, as she carried him 
down to his mother's cabin. 

The following Monday the goodwives of the May- 
flower celebrated the first great wash-day of all New 
England housekeepers. 



56 



V 
Squanto 



WHO can make clear to us who live In comfort 
and luxury to-day, the blackness and terror 
of the weeks and months that followed ? It was a time 
of desperate striving, of despairing struggle, while one 
after another of the little company fell sick and died, 
overcome by the horrors and agony of that first winter. 
Nearly all of the wives and mothers perished; out of 
twenty-four households four were wholly obliterated, 
and only fifty-one were left of all the little congregation 
when the following winter came bringing the Fortune 
with its gift of friends to the colony. 

The first of all death's victims was Mistress Doro- 
thy Bradford. While the Mayflower still lay with all 
Its load of women and children In the first harbor, she 
fell by accident and was drowned, fortunate, we might 
almost say, to escape the hardships of those bleak win- 
try days that followed. 

Thus Master William Bradford was left alone to 

57 



HERO TALES 

fight his battle against the wilderness and despondency. 
A difficult fight It was. In the words of his journal he 
could " but stay and make a pause, and stand half 
amased at this poore peoples presente condition; and 
so I thinke will the reader too, when he well considers 
ye same. Being thus passed y^ vast ocean, and a sea 
of troubles before In their preparation (as may be re- 
membred by yt which wente before), they had now 
no freinds to wellcome them, nor inns to entertaine or 
refresh their weatherbeaten bodys, no houses or much 
less townes to repaire too, to seeke for succoure. . . . 

" And for ye season it was winter, and they that 
know ye winters of yt cuntrle know them to be sharp 
& violent, & subjecte to cruell & feirce stormes, dean- 
gerous to travill to known places, much more to serch 
an unknown coast. . . . 

"If they looked behind them, ther was ye mighty 
ocean which they had passed, and was now as a malne 
barr & goulfe to separate them from all ye civlll parts 
of ye world. . . . 

" What could now sustaine them but ye spirite of 
God & his grace? " ^ 

Notwithstanding all their many obstacles they at 
length succeeded in erecting a few hastily built houses 
as a protection against the winter's cold, together with 
a shed or common storehouse for their provisions. The 
company was divided into nineteen families, all single 
^ "The History of Plimouth Plantation," pp. 94-96. 

58 



SQUANTO 

men being obliged to join some household that thus 
fewer homes might be necessary. 

As for the Indians, they appeared at first very shy, 
so that It was difficult to obtain a chance to speak with 
them or even to see them, and their actions were 
not always friendly. On one of the explorations, pre- 
vious to their choice of a site for the village, a sharp 
encounter occurred early one morning between some of 
the Pilgrims and a party of Indians, but no one was 
hurt. It was not until the sixteenth of March that they 
at last met one of their hitherto almost unseen neigh- 
bors. On that day, which was fair and warm, the Pil- 
grims had assembled to decide some matters relating 
to their miniature army, when the meeting was inter- 
rupted. 

In the very midst of the village appeared an Indian, 
alone and unabashed. He passed by the newly built 
houses and coming straight to the meeting-place of the 
white men called out boldly, " Welcome." His name 
was Samoset. 

In the year 1620, one day In early spring, an Indian 
sat before his wigwam at work on a pile of arrows. At 
first glance there might have appeared nothing unusual 
about him, but had one noticed him carefully he would 
have seen that his eye was unusually keen, his face full 
of Intelligence, and that there were kindly lines about 
the mouth, more pleasing than could often be found 

59 



HERO TALES 

upon the faces of his race. As he worked he repeated 
two words over and over In a tone of surprise and 
pleasure, " White men, white men, white men.'' 

Strange memories were passing through the brain 
of Squanto as he sat there in the March sunshine at 
work on his pile of arrows. This was his home. As a 
boy he had roamed the woods, first with the Indian 
boys, and then later with the chiefs of his tribe. He 
had snared the partridge and gray squirrel, caught the 
fearless fish, fought the enemies of his people, and 
taken part in the wild war-dances and in the religious 
rites to the mysterious gods about whom the powwows 
and pineses taught him. The birds, the sunshine, the 
rain, the forest, the glistening trout, all were his friends. 
His enemies were the cold, the wildcats and other deni- 
zens of the wood and the hated warriors of the near-by 
tribes. 

It was a simple life, and while he was a boy, hardy, 
agile, tireless, Squanto had been satisfied, and cared 
for nothing more. 

But with his manhood mysterious longings had 
awakened within him. What was the meaning of the 
forest? Where was the god who spoke in the deafen- 
ing thunder ? Where were the happy hunting-grounds ? 
Did his mother when she died find out these things? 
She had slept so soundly ! If he could not awaken her, 
who could? Squanto sought the answers vainly. Per- 
haps the powwows knew more than they were willing to 

60 



SQUANTO 

tell to every one. He, too, would become a medicine- 
man. 

But just after he reached this determination a 
strange thing had happened. A huge boat like a gigan- 
tic bird, with white, outspread wings, had come across 
the great water. In it there were men, — strange men, 
with pale faces, and sticks which held the lightning, 
ready at any time to dart out straight upon an enemy, 
and when they departed they seized Squanto and car- 
ried him with them. For many days and many nights 
Squanto was borne in the heart of the great bird across 
the ocean, and when the white men brought him out to 
land, he was in a new world. He traveled through 
Spain and England, and many other places, but where 
they went, and why, Squanto scarcely knew. City and 
country were alike marvelous and unreal. The crowded 
street, the high brick walls, the mighty cathedrals, 
— he gazed with wonder and amazement upon every 
one and like pictures they remained stamped upon 
his brain, but the cause of them all, the great past 
which held the explanation of all these earthly marvels 
was a sealed book to Squanto, and their mystery was far 
greater than the mysteries of the forest and the medi- 
cine-men. Still there were many things that he learned 
as the days went by. Like a little child he came to 
know many of the words his masters tried to teach their 
new slave. They could tell him simple things at last and 
he could understand and answer. One day some one 

6i 



HERO TALES 

told him of the white man's God, a new God who was 
kind, and could do anything he wished, even with 
powwows. He must be greater than the gods of the 
medicine-man, Squanto thought. Could it be that this 
God was the great Father of the happy hunting- 
grounds? Was he Kiehtan, or was he larger and 
stronger than even that mighty hunter? But the white 
men who had tried to teach him, did not know, or did 
not understand when Squanto asked them about it. 

He went back across the great water again, this time 
to help the white men to fish, and proved himself pa- 
tient and brave. The world grew larger every day to 
Squanto, and his heart and mind grew broader too. 
After all, the white men had been very good to him, 
for one of the things that Squanto had desired above 
all else was to understand the reasons of things, and 
they had helped him to a wider knowledge. How much 
more these palefaces knew Squanto could not even 
imagine, but he looked at them admiringly. Through 
them had come the light, and he was ready to follow 
where it led him. 

At last Squanto made another journey. He was 
sent by Sir Ferdinando Gorges in a large party com- 
manded by a gentleman named Dermer back once more 
across the sea. These people of whom he had learned 
so much needed Squanto to teach them now, for they 
wished to explore the coast, to learn something of his 
home land, its soil, its trees, its shore, and neighboring 

62 



SQUANTO 

tribes, and to rescue a company of Frenchmen who had 
fallen Into the hands of the Indians. Many were the 
adventures that the little party underwent, and Squanto 
was true to those whom he was helping to guide. The 
pale-faced leader owed his life to him when he was cap- 
tured by the Pocanawklts, and again, at Manamolak, 
Squanto cast In his strength and cunning on the side 
of the white men. But at last on the Isle of Capawack 
all the palefaces were killed except two who barely 
escaped with their lives to the Virginia Colony and 
their Indian companions alone were left. 

Squanto was back once more in the land of his boy- 
hood, back in the old familiar forests, and beside the 
well-known shores of the great ocean. But how 
changed everything seemed! About four years before 
a deadly plague had arisen among his people, the Pa- 
tuxits, and when it had done its work not a man, woman 
or child of Squanto's tribe was left. Their fragile 
dwellings had long ago disappeared. The little village 
of his own kin had vanished and Squanto went to build 
his wigwam in the neighborhood of the Massasoyts, a 
tribe which had formerly been friendly to his own. 

There he lived among a people who could not un- 
derstand and who would hardly believe him when he 
tried to tell them of that great land across the vast 
waters. They did not care to hear about the wonderful 
homes of the palefaces and Squanto could find no 
Indian words with which to Interpret his memories. 

63 



^'■■ ' ■ "w^apiJiwBi^^^jh^igattiJBijiiaai^MBiMlMMI 



HERO TALES 

One friend, however, he had in the person of Samo- 
set, an Indian chief from Pemaquid, in what became 
long years afterward the town of Bristol, Maine. 
When Captain Dermer's ship had touched at Mon- 
hegan on its way south, Samoset had joined the little 
company of white men and now after their unfortunate 
adventures he still lingered on among the Massasoyts 
before making the long five days' journey northward 
back to his own people. Much of the time he spent 
with Squanto in his little wigwam, and occasionally they 
spoke of the past and tried their new language, the 
language of the white men. Whey they sat thus in 
the evening beside their matted wigwam a feeling of 
satisfaction arose in Squanto's yearning heart, and he 
felt that he was not wholly lonely, for Samoset could 
partly understand him as no other of his Indian brothers 
could. 

The first summer back in his own land was ended. 
The winter snows fell, the little river was covered with 
its ice floor, the bare trees were coated with crystal, 
and then with blankets of snow. On the white ground 
was written every morning the story of the night before 
in the tracks which Squanto loved to read. The days 
were short. Then came rain and wind and sleet. The 
ice in the river rotted and cracked and finally went out, 
tumbling down past the wigwam on its grinding, furious 
journey. The sun was later in its setting. There was 
the wonderful breath of something in the air which set 

64 



SQUANTO 

Squanto's heart all burning with an eagerness for he 
scarcely knew what, for summer, for achievement, for 
joy. The spirit of the spring was upon him, and he 
forgot the desolation of his land, and his own loneli- 
ness. One day a bluebird sang behind his wigwam ; the 
next day Samoset came in and told him that the pale- 
faces were come again ! He had talked with them, eaten 
at their house, and they had come to dwell among the 
forests. They wished to see Massasoyt, and to become 
his friends. Samoset had promised to arrange it all. 

In silence Squanto listened to his story. His heart 
was beating fast, but he looked calmly out with immov- 
able face upon the swift, foaming river. When Samo- 
set had finished he laid his arrows together and slowly 
arose. " I go to the white brothers with you," he said, 
and together they entered the forest on their way to 
Massasoyt. 

Four days later the mighty Massasoyt with his 
train of friends and attendants came to the little vil- 
lage on the shore of Plymouth Bay. It was a fair, 
warm day, the twenty-second of March, and the Pil- 
grim Fathers, who had at last on the day previous 
finally left the Mayflower, were assembled in one of 
their partially completed houses, busily engaged in con- 
cluding those laws and military rules which seemed so 
necessary for the orderly government and peace of their 
little republic. They had already been interrupted in 
similar meetings three times by the coming of their 

6s 



Ai 't— 



HERO TALES 

Indian neighbors, and now when they had been only an 
hour together Samoset and Squanto appeared with 
three other Indians laden with skins and freshly dried 
red herrings, and brought the news that their great 
chief, Massasoyt, with his brother Quadequlna, was 
only a little behind them. 

The Pilgrims were at first unwilling to send their 
governor, John Carver, to receive so dangerous a visi- 
tor, but It was at last arranged through the good offices 
of Squanto as Interpreter, that Edward WInslow should 
go to meet the great sagamore and make known the 
good wishes of the white men toward him and his tribe. 
A pair of knives and a jeweled chain, together with 
some food, were sent as a gift to the mighty Massa- 
soyt, and Master WInslow, who was not so very long 
afterward to become the governor of the little colony, 
explained that through him King James did accept of 
them as friends and allies, and that his own governor, 
John Carver, desired to see him, both to trade and to 
confirm a peace with him, as his next neighbor. 

In the end, hostages being retained on both sides, 
Massasoyt with about twenty of his men crossed the 
town brook, and were escorted up to the meeting-place 
of the Pilgrims by Captain Standlsh and half a dozen 
musketeers. There the chief was seated on a green rug, 
and on the arrival of the governor, who was followed 
by a drum and a trumpet and some few musketeers, the 
conference of peace began. 

66 



SQUANTO 

It was a strange company, the grave Pilgrims full 
of anxious care for their feeble little band upon the 
one hand, and on the other, the savage red men, sus- 
picious, yet with a certain childish awe of these won- 
derful strangers who had appeared so mysteriously in 
their midst. Samoset and Squanto were the only ones 
who understood their strange words and even to them 
the sentences were filled with but shadowy meaning. 

One of the Pilgrims themselves writing later of 
this important meeting says of the Indian chief: 

" All the while he sat by the Governor, he trembled 
for fear. In his person, he is a very lusty man, in his 
best years, of an able body, grave of countenance, and 
spare of speech. In his attire, he was little or nothing 
differing from the rest of his followers : only in a great 
chain of white bone beads about his neck; and at it, 
behind his neck, hangs a little bag of tobacco, which 
he drank and gave us to drink. His face was painted 
with a sad red like murrey ; and he oiled both head and 
face, that he looked greasily. All his followers like- 
wise were. In their faces, in part, or in whole, painted : 
some black, some red, some yellow, and some white; 
some with crosses and other antic works. Some had 
skins on them, and some were naked : all strong, and all 
tall men in appearance." ^ 

With eager ears and stumbling tongue Squanto 

^ From *< New England in America," as quoted in E. Arber's 
*«The Story of the Pilgrim Fathers/' pp. 458, 459. 

67 ■ 



- -«»• " -c* ^ 



Mil 



HERO TALES 

stood between Governor John Carver and Massasoyt, 
listening now to one, now to the other, and Interpreting 
as best he could the words of each. There was to be 
peace between them, and Squanto's heart was glad, for 
both were his friends. They were to be brothers, not 
foes, and the white men who had taught him such great 
things were to be his neighbors forever and forever. 

It was a long conference, for first the red men must 
partake of their white brethren's food, — a pitiful ban- 
quet it was, for the long winter of illness and want lay 
close behind them, and the provisions were fast wasting 
away, — but the Pilgrim Fathers would not begrudge 
food to the only visitors they could have In all this land, 
and their hospitality was none the less to be admired 
because It was policy also to propitiate these guests 
whose friendship or whose enmity would mean so much. 

At last when the feasting and the ceremony were 
ended, came the real business of the day, the treaty 
with Massasoyt. William Bradford has recorded It In 
his journal as follows: 

" I. That neither he nor any of his, should Injurie 
or doe hurte to any of their peopl. 

"2. That if any of his did any hurte to any of 
theirs, he should send ye offender, that they might pun- 
ish him. 

'* 3. That If anything were taken away from any 
of theirs, he should cause It to be restored; and they 
should doe ye like to his. 

68 



SQUANTO 

"4. If any did unjustly warr against him, they 
would aide him; if any did warr against them, he should 
aide them. 

" 5. He should send to his neighbours confederats, 
to certifie them of this, that they might not wrong them, 
but might be likewise comprised in ye conditions of 
peace. 

" 6. That when ther men came to them, they should 
leave their bows & arrows behind them." ^ 

The day was nearing its close when this treaty, so 
important in the eyes of both parties, was at last con- 
cluded. With due ceremony the great Indian chief and 
his band of followers arose and were escorted to the 
brook by the governor. After Massasoyt's departure a 
visit was received from his brother, and after Quade- 
quina had returned, several of his companions lingered. 
But at last all had departed except two dusky figures 
who still remained in the growing twilight beside the 
newly boarded house. 

" I stay with the white brother. Help him plant, 
help him fish, help all ways," one of them said in 
broken English. It was Squanto with his friend 
Samoset. 

In the months which followed Squanto proved as 

good as his word. On the very next day he went to 

fish at the river, and brought home as many eels as he 

could carry in one hand as a feast for some of the hun- 

^ «*The History of Plimouth Plantation," p. 115. 

69 



■"^ — ^ — - ' -• • ' ''^ — ""'-- " •---^--■--— ^-'^ 



HERO TALES 

gry colonists. He It was who taught the Pilgrims 
where to plant their corn, where the fish were most 
plentiful, and where many things which were of use to 
them might be procured. He was their teacher and 
guide in numberless affairs of practical importance, and 
their scholar as well, ardent in his desire to be a true 
member of that little community with which he cast his 
life. Indeed if It had not been for his assistance It 
seems as if starvation must have overtaken the colony, 
for the English wheat and peas which were sown that 
summer were a complete failure, while the Indian corn, 
which Squanto had taught them how to plant and culti- 
vate, yielded a good harvest, and it was upon this that 
the Pilgrims mainly subsisted during the following 
winter. 

For a year and a half Squanto lived among the pale- 
faces. He was not always wholly true to both his new 
friends and the old dusky tribe which he had left behind 
In the forest. Visions of riches and of power floated 
before him. He enjoyed the position of influence which 
his association with the more intelligent white men 
had given him. He endeavored to pose before the 
Indians as a powerful counselor of the Pilgrims. He 
It was, they believed, who could stir up war whenever 
he wished, and could make peace for those who would 
make him gifts. Even the plague, he wished them to 
believe, was subject to his control. He together with 
the palefaces, his friends, kept it buried in the ground, 

70 



SQUANTO 

but could at any time draw it out and send it in all its 
deadly power against their foes. In their eyes he be- 
came a mightier friend than Massasoyt, and a far 
deadlier enemy. 

These were ignoble means by which to seek ambi- 
tion's ends, but Squanto was still walking in a spiritual 
twilight. He had been only an Indian so many years, 
and knew how he might so easily outwit his fellows! 
What wonder that he yielded to the temptation ! 

It was shortly after the harvest of the following 
year, 1622, that Squanto went with the governor and a 
party of others on a journey for corn, which was still 
scarce and very much needed in the struggling colony. 
If they could but round Cape Cod they had great hope 
that they might be able to purchase what they wished, 
and so they set out in a small ship to endeavor to pass 
that dangerous shoulder of land, with Squanto as their 
guide and interpreter. The dangers of that perilous 
peninsula, however, proved to be too great. Flats and 
breakers made their chance of success seem small, and 
finally the courageous little company put back into 
Manamoyack Bay where they purchased what they 
were able. In this place Squanto became sick, and 
within a few days the Indian friend of the Pilgrim 
Fathers passed on to " ye Englishman's God In 
heaven " whither he had begged the governor to pray 
that he might go. In the words of William Bradford 
himself, " they had a great loss." 

71 



la 



HERO TALES 

Against the unknown history of the red people, the 
figure of Squanto stands out clear and strong. As far 
as we know he was the first Indian of New England to 
grope his way into the beginnings of a wider knowl- 
edge. A number of times is he mentioned in the 
crowded records of the Plymouth colony. He was no 
useless inhabitant. He was strong enough so that he 
raised himself from out of the barbarism of his people 
and at the same time helped his rescuers to plant a firm 
step upon a new world where successful colonization at 
that time seemed to be but an impossible dream of 
reckless adventurers. 

Had it not been for Squanto, blind struggler from 
barbarism up to civilization as he was, the Pilgrims 
had doubtless planted and watched their little crops 
upon the shores of Plymouth Bay in vain. Would 
they, unaided, have made friends with their savage 
neighbors, would they have found where the wild fowl 
were plentiful, and when the fish were to come up the 
stream of their tiny village? And if not, what then? 
We shall never know, for Squanto came to help them. 
He taught them how to wrest food from the inhos- 
pitable coast on which they dwelt, and guided them on 
their little journeys through this strange land. But he 
had his reward, for when he started on his lonely way to 
the happy hunting-grounds he did not go in darkness. 
The white brother had taught him the way to the Great 
Spirit, and prayed that he might find the path light. 

72 




The Elder Brewster Chair and Peregrine White's Cradle 




Miles Standish's Sword and Utensils 



.^.^L. 



VI 

The First Thanksgiving 



FORTUNATELY for the Pilgrims the first winter 
which was spent In their new country was com- 
paratively mild, otherwise their sufferings must have 
been even greater than they were. As early as the sev- 
enth of March some garden seeds were sown, and every 
effort was made by the enfeebled little company to 
make provision by ample crops for the following win- 
ter. It was a heavy task, however. Only thirty-two 
men remained to take up the burden of the colony. 
They must needs be carpenters, farmers, hunters, sol- 
diers, sailors and statesmen, and nobly did they labor to 
accomplish what seemed almost Impossible. 

Part of their harvest was a failure, owing to their 
Ignorance of the climate. The barley was not very 
good, and the peas unfit for use, owing to the lateness 
of their sowing, but still sufficient success crowned their 
labors, so that they felt they had great cause for re- 
joicing. Some twenty acres of Indian corn ripened, so 

73 



• JM • Bm t'^'mm^'im'mmmm^^immmt^jammtmm 



HERO TALES 

with the abundance of game and fish which the coun- 
try naturally afforded, their food for the winter was 
assured. Seven dwelling-houses had been erected, to- 
gether with four others designed for the use of the entire 
community. 

It seemed fitting to William Bradford, who had 
been chosen governor after the death of John Carver 
the preceding April, that so many blessings at God's 
hands should be gratefully acknowledged by a time of 
special thanksgiving and rejoicing, and a week was set 
apart by these sober and busy people, for a season of 
feasting and joy. It is good to think of them in their 
happiness, and to get a last glimpse of them as they 
gathered around their loaded tables, sorrows and dan- 
gers for a time forgotten, to celebrate the first New 
England Thanksgiving Day. 

The sun-dial before the door of the governor's 
house pointed to noon. A savory smell came through 
the rough log walls and out of the rude chimney at the 
rear of the cabin — a smell suggestive of roasting fowl 
and venison, of fresh corn bread and cakes. Before 
the door Samuel Fuller and Henry Samson sniffed 
hungrily. 

" Mistress White has baked ten cakes. I saw them 
on the great table waiting for the dinner-hour," said 
Samuel as he dug his small moccasined feet into the 
loose earth beside the steps. 

" And the Indians have brought great store of 

74 



THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

oysters. They were big and white. O Samuel, don't 
you wish we celebrated a Thanksgiving every week 
instead of the Lord's day? " exclaimed his hungry com- 
panion. 

A little girl with shocked face and wide, surprised 
eyes peeped around the corner of the house. It was 
Priscilla Mullins, the only one left of all Master Will- 
iam Mullins' family after that dread spring of 1621 
had passed. 

" I heard you, Henry Samson. What would Elder 
Brewster say to you, if he knew what you said just 
now? " 

" Well, he don't know," cried Henry Samson de- 
fiantly, " and I do wish so. I like to have something 
more than cod for dinner, and we've had only that for 
a long time, and I'd much rather watch the men drill 
than go to church. We'll be men and drill too, some 
day; but you can't because you're only a girl." 

" I don't care," said Priscilla. " I can cook with 
Mistress Brewster and the other goodwives," but her 
lips trembled as she turned back soberly toward the 
kitchen where Mistress Brewster, Mistress White, Mis- 
tress Hopkins, and Mistress Billington, the only four 
wives remaining of all that brave little company, were 
at work. 

Indeed their labors were not small these days. 
Despite the assistance of their husbands, upon them de- 
volved most of the care of feeding the fifty colonists 

75 



HERO TALES 

and their ninety visiting Indians during the days of 
feasting. They were the goodwives, the matrons of the 
entire colony, and responsible for whatever of home life 
it might be possible to maintain in their present forlorn 
condition. Two babies, Samuel Eaton and little Pere- 
grine White, and at least four little children, besides 
other older sons and daughters were dependent upon 
them for motherly care. They it was who must be 
ready to cook and sew, to clean and mend, to nurse 
and plan for all. But there were heroines as well as 
heroes in those days, and there in the kitchen stood 
Elizabeth Hopkins and Ellen Brewster stirring the 
gravy and basting the fowls, while Mistress Mary 
Brewster cut great slices of corn cake, and Mistress 
Susanna White comforted little Samuel who had just 
fallen and bumped his head against the big spinning- 
wheel. 

" There, there, hush, Samuel, or you will wake 
Peregrine. Priscilla, cannot you rock the cradle a little, 
and then carry Samuel out-of-doors while we serve up 
the dinner? " 

" Peregrine is sound asleep,'' answered Priscilla as 
she peeped under the coverlids into the huge wicker 
cradle. " Come, Samuel. Don't you want to go out to 
see the boys ? " 

A young man, the ship's cooper, who had decided 
to remain with the Separatists, was lingering outside the 
kitchen door. *' Here, let me take the baby, little Pris- 

76 



i«MU 



THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

cilia," he commanded, " and do you walk along with me 
to amuse him. He is getting too heavy for you." 

" Don't wander far, John," called out Mistress 
Hopkins as she lifted a great fowl, the giant turkey 
of all the wild flock, out from an iron kettle to the 
large pewter platter. " We shall be ready soon." 

It was no meager dinner which the goodmen of the 
colony found awaiting them as they came in from their 
drill in the crisp fall air. Wild turkey, with corn 
bread, fish from the bay, fried eels, mussels and clams 
from the mud-flats close to the village, oysters and 
venison brought by Massasoyt and his followers, wild 
grapes, plums, white, black and red, and plenty of 
gooseberry sauce with Mistress White's cakes to con- 
clude the banquet! There was enough for all, with a 
plentiful supply left over to load down the second table 
set for Humility Cooper, Priscilla, Samuel, and Henry 
— a great feast and well enjoyed after the plain and 
often scanty dinners of the past busy summer. 

At the head of the table sat Governor William 
Bradford — no more the young man, inexperienced and 
delicate, who had fled from his uncle's home in Auster- 
field, thirteen years before, but a serious and dignified 
leader of the people with whom he had cast in his lot. 
In the preceding April, the first governor of the plan- 
tation, John Carver, had been stricken down, evidently 
by sunstroke, while busy planting in the fields, and 
within a few days died, leaving the Separatists without 

77 



HERO TALES 

a ruler. William Bradford was not at that time recov- 
ered from an illness in which he, too, had been at the 
point of death, but within a few days he was chosen to 
fill Master Carver's place with Isaac Allerton as an 
assistant, and these two were reelected together an- 
nually for several years. To-day his face, though 
happy, looked worn and tired whenever he ceased 
speaking, and as Isaac Allerton leaned over toward 
Elder Brewster after he had finished the long grace 
he said, " Our governor looks weary. Elder Brewster. 
I am afraid he Is working too hard this harvest 
time." 

" It Is his heart which has been most weary," an- 
swered the elder gravely. " Mistress Dorothy Brad- 
ford was a light in his home which could not well be 
missed. He has been trying to deaden thought by 
labor, just as so many others have done. Had it not 
been for our sorrows, we handful of people could never 
have reaped such a harvest. Our men have labored 
that they might cease thinking." 

"What are you talking about?" called out Miles 
Standish gayly from the opposite side of the table. 
" Isaac Allerton Is whispering as closely as though he 
were plotting some rebellion with our good elder. 
Speak up, man, and tell us thy secrets." 

" Nay, captain, we will obey your orders when you 
lead us to battle, but not when we are seated before a 
table like this. Will you not lead the attack upon that 

78 



m^Huif^^^mm^^'^^mf'^i 



:3StL 



THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

great turkey set before you and send on the vanquished 
to Dr. Fuller? He looks hungry still." 

" With pleasure, if the doctor will care for me in 
case I in turn am overcome by this bountiful dinner. 
This platter is heavy, Dr. Fuller; will you not pass your 
plate for this gigantic wing? " 

*' Thank you, captain," returned the doctor with 
one of his rare smiles. " I had no time for breakfast, 
so I am hungry, as I look, after my fast." 

"What now, doctor? Who Is sick?" inquired 
Elder Brewster anxiously. 

" Francis Billington," returned the doctor with just 
a bit of a twinkle behind his inscrutable face. " He 
had eaten too many good things somewhere or other, 
I think. He was so sick a boy that his father was 
awake all last night caring for him, but he was better 
before I left, and I think his mother is here helping 
this noon." 

" Billington, Billington," muttered the plethoric 
captain In great disgust. " That family can get into 
more trouble than a dozen men can remedy. They are 
a plague to the colony." 

" Nay, nay, let us not be too harsh," said the elder 
gently. " Mistress Billington has been of great assist- 
ance to us." 

" Mistress Billington has, perhaps," said Master 
Hopkins laying down his great knife, " but the boys 
are always up to some mischief. I shall never forget 

79 



HERO TALES 

how young Francis fired off his father's fowling-piece 
in their cabin on the Mayflower." 

" Yes, and more than half a barrel of powder 
scattered about the room, with so many iron things that 
if a man had aimed carefully he could hardly have 
avoided damage," said the captain. 

" If his father had not been away on a voyage of 
discovery he would never have gotten such a chance," 
laughed John Alden. " When a boy has been cooped 
up a hundred days on a little ship where there is hardly 
room to walk a rod, he must find some outlet for his 
energy. After we had come on shore the boys were all 
like hounds let loose." 

" I should say so," exclaimed Captain Standish. 
" Did we not spend three days of our precious time last 
August hunting for young John Billington when he was 
lost in the woods and taken up by the Indians over at 
Nauset? Fortunate it was for us that the waterspout 
we encountered that afternoon did not endure long, 
and fortunate for him that the Indians were friendly, 
or his escapade would have been a very serious matter. 
I think I have never seen such a storm as we met that 
first day at sea." 

" God be praised," said Governor Bradford, " that 
we rode it in safety. When I consider all the mercies 
of this past summer, I can but marvel at God's wonder- 
ful providence. As for Master Billington and his fam- 
ily, is it well that we speak more of them ? We all know 

80 






THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

them and what sort of persons they are. I know not by 
what friends they shuffled Into this company, but since 
they are here they are part of us, and to be respected 
as neighbors as far as maybe. Let us not befoul the 
days of rejoicing with any Idle words. Captain Stand- 
Ish, what are we to do this afternoon to entertain our 
Indian friends? " 

" Massasoyt and his followers are to run races for 
our amusement, after which we are to exercise arms," 
answered the captain. " I hope we shall make a good 
exhibition, that we may Impress them as being both dan- 
gerous enemies and desirable friends. To-morrow they 
are to give a show of their own method of warfare, 
which I am especially anxious to see, and I hope all of 
you will observe their ways carefully." 

" That we shall," said Governor Bradford. " We 
are all as desirous to learn as you are to have us, cap- 
tain. But now had we not better leave further feasting 
for the end of the day? Too long lingering here will 
not make us any more ready for our part of the sport, 
and it Is well to be temperate even in this time of abun- 
dance. Elder Brewster, will you not return thanks for 
us for all God's bounty? " 

With bowed heads the little company arose. It was 
no simple form for them, that closing blessing. Many 
a meager meal had they eaten In the past year, while 
family and beloved friends lay dying all about them. 
Many of them had passed through dangerous Illness 

8i 



HERO TALES 

and severe suffering. How often had they questioned 
whether after all there was any possibility that their 
little colony could escape, as by a miracle, the dangers 
that had hitherto defeated any attempt to colonize this 
unknown continent! Their strength was feeble com- 
pared to that of some who had preceded them ; the spot 
where they had settled was bleak and rocky ; how could 
they overcome the difficulties which had vanquished 
others? Only through God's help. If their cause was 
Indeed his cause, he was able to save, and so they had 
trusted through cold and pestilence and famine. The 
first of their reward was before them — a bountiful har- 
vest, and exultantly they praised God who had delivered 
them from the grim danger of famine. All their hearts 
echoed the " Amen '' of Elder Brewster's thanksgiving 
prayer, and then joyfully they passed out of the rough- 
hewn door to the glad fall sunshine and their Indian 
allies. 

They had successfully established a colony. A 
God-fearing New England had been born. 



82 



an#B-nMii^ii^Bi'fi,ii , . ^ . .' MJII aCSgSSSiaP^gSgaBBat^^— 



VII 
A Wise Physician 



THE little Plymouth Colony by its wisdom and 
courageous Industry had secured for Itself a 
foothold on the bleak shores of Massachusetts. Slowly 
It grew In numbers and prosperity until In 1628 the 
hardy Pilgrims were in a comparatively comfortable 
condition. If they could then have been left entirely 
alone perhaps they might have maintained their exist- 
ence independent of any outside help, but this condition 
was impossible of attainment. The end of Separatist 
immigration from both England and Holland was 
practically reached, and It could be only a question of 
time when others unfriendly to their religious views 
should come and force them to relinquish that freedom 
of worship which they had bought at such a price. 
What chance was there of averting such a calamity? 

This was the question which filled the thoughts of 
Dr. Fuller, Plymouth's beloved physician, as he de- 
scended the hill from the rude house which served alike 

83 



HERO TALES 

for fort and church. The setting sun lit up the snowy 
landscape and was reflected In a fiery glow from the 
ice-fringed roof of the rough fort. Dr. Fuller gazed 
up with absent mind at the gaping mouths of the eight 
little cannon which peered down at him. 

He was the beloved comforter and healer of the 
colony. None had borne his part more nobly than he. 
None had the welfare of the little community more In 
his thoughts. From the time of that first dread winter 
when one-half of the people had perished, up to the 
present, he had been one of the sure props and never- 
falling helpers of the church and of every family. Nor 
was It alone his work among the Pilgrims which had 
filled his busy days. His labors of love among the 
sick Indians had won the affection of even those savage 
neighbors, adding a still stronger strand to the bond 
of friendship which held the tribes In alliance with their 
white neighbors. 

Lines of courage, tenderness, good cheer and 
strength were written all over the worn and care-beaten 
face of the good doctor as he gazed up at the setting 
sun, but to-night a deeper furrow of thought and anx- 
iety appeared among the others. 

It was only a short time previous that the inhab- 
itants of Plymouth had received news of the arrival of 
a company to the north — a little group of Puritans 
headed by Endlcott, who had come on to prepare the 
way for a large colony, and were endeavoring to make 

84 



( ■'K\t{ (' i'^ ^'^■llBf ^ 'tti f' ^ '^t^ '" '^"^^^ 



A WISE PHYSICIAN 

a settlement at what is now Salem. Details concerning 
their plans and aims had thus far been very meager, 
but the good doctor had just met John Alden who said 
that a messenger had that afternoon arrived at the gov- 
ernor's house with a letter from the Puritan leader. 

"What could its purport be? Were the relations 
between the two colonies to be strained or could they 
help one another? " Dr. Fuller realized that this letter 
might make clear the attitude of the new arrivals, as 
he looked down the hill toward the governor's house 
which lay not far away. 

Across the snow-stretch between a man was hasten- 
ing. He was short and sturdy, and his heavy sword 
swung at his side. There was but one In all the colony 
who walked like that. Miles Standish, captain of the 
Pilgrim army. Dr. Fuller hurried down to meet him. 

" So I have found you, doctor," exclaimed Captain 
Standish, as they approached each other. " Your good- 
wife said you had gone this way. I have news from the 
governor for you." 

'* What Is it? " asked the doctor eagerly. " From 
Endicott's colony ? " 

" Yes," replied Miles Standish; " it Is an urgent 
summons, or we should not have sought you In such 
haste. Our friends the Puritans are suffering greatly 
from Illness and are In sore need of a physician. They 
have heard in some way that we have a wise physician 
with us — nay, do not silence me, doctor, — and that you 

85 



HERO TALES 

are skilful in letting of blood, and so they have written, 
beseeching that the governor may send you to them." 

" It is a bad time to leave our own people," an- 
swered Samuel Fuller gravely. " There are many sick, 
and the goodwives need my counsel, although they are 
faithful nurses. What is the nature of the disease over 
at Naumkeag? " 

" Principally the scurvy, though there are other dis- 
tempers also come upon them. They have suffered from 
lack of suitable food and homes, just as we did at the 
beginning, and the condition of the servants is especially 
distressing. I fear that we shall seem very ungenerous 
if you do not make the journey." 

" It must be done," returned the doctor. ** I shall 
waste no time in taking up this service for the Lord. 
He can guard those I leave behind, and perhaps there 
is some greater work to be accomplished in Naumkeag 
than we at present see clearly." 

The good doctor and the sturdy captain gazed feel- 
ingly into each other's eyes. They knew one another's 
thoughts but neither spoke further. Then Dr. Fuller 
hurried on down the hill to make ready for this new 
service of love. 

The new colony at Salem had indeed suffered heav- 
ily. It had been a time of trouble and anxiety for all, 
and Dr. Fuller, accustomed as he was to scenes of sim- 
ilar distress among his own people, had yet felt the 
strain of it keenly. Nevertheless in the midst of his 

86 



A WISE PHYSICIAN 

labors he had snatched a few minutes now and then to 
talk with the governor, John Endicott, concerning some 
of the things which so filled the hearts and thoughts of 
each. 

Separatists and Puritans had gradually come to 
hold very similar opinions about many things. For 
both the Bible was the only true source of authority; 
both held the Church of England to be full of errors; 
both believed that it was the right of the Church to be 
worthily ministered unto by an educated and faithful 
body of preachers, resident In the places where they 
served; that righteousness of life and a changed heart 
should be made the test of all church-membership, and 
those that lived ungodly lives ought to be cast out by 
church discipline from these companies of believers; 
that the service of the Church should be freed from all 
superstitious elements; and that it should be a true 
means of help and inspiration to those who were endeav- 
oring to serve God. On only one point did they seem- 
ingly differ, their attitude to the mother Church of 
England. The Puritans believed that its purification 
should and would be accomplished by those remaining 
in the national Church ; the Pilgrim Fathers believed It 
to be so corrupt that separation was the only means of 
preserving their souls from its contaminating Influence. 
Their very names were significant of their conflicting 
attitudes. 

Had both remained in the mother country this one 

87 



HERO TALES 

difference of opinion might have kept them forever 
apart. But in this new continent to which they had 
come it became a matter of theory rather than of prac- 
tical consequence. No bishop was at hand to form a 
church or ordain a minister. Believe as the Puritans 
might, they were compelled to act independently, and 
safety and the public welfare both demanded that they 
be in friendly relationship with that body of religious 
wanderers so like themselves. 

Had the leaders of those first little companies, Endi- 
cott, Bradford or Fuller, been men who delighted to 
dwell on points of disagreement rather than those of 
harmony, the course of events might have been differ- 
ent. But Governor Endicott and Dr. Samuel Fuller 
proved themselves Christian gentlemen, perhaps we may 
say Christian heroes. In those talks together during that 
time of sickness. 

The strain was almost over now. Tired and worn 
as the people of the little colony were, their hearts had 
become lighter, and their faces more and more prone to 
smiles as the days of the last week had gone by, and no 
new cases of sickness had developed. All of the sickest 
patients were now fairly started on the road to recov- 
ery, and Dr. Fuller felt that the day of return to his 
own village need no longer be postponed. 

It was with a light step therefore that he hurried on 
to the little log cabin of Governor Endicott for a last 
happy chat and report of his labors. 

88 



A WISE PHYSICIAN 

" Come in, and welcome, Dr. Fuller," exclaimed a 
hearty voice as the rough-hewn cabin door swung open, 
and the governor himself, who had seen from his 
study window the doctor's approach, grasped him 
heartily by both hands and led him within to a room 
where a little fire of small sticks crackled and blazed 
in a rudely constructed fireplace. " I hear that you 
are going to-morrow morning. Well, I am glad 
and sorry both. We shall all miss you, young 
and old." 

Dr. Fuller smiled, one of his warm and radiant 
smiles, which had so often lighted up the bedsides of 
the sick and suffering. " It has been good for me to be 
here," he answered in a gentle voice. " You know as 
well as I how much it means for the colonies that we 
should be friends. The foes of the wilderness and of 
the world are all about us. God's soldiers must need 
join hands in their battles even though they belong to 
different regiments." 

" You and I at least have clasped hands," returned 
John Endicott, reaching across from his high carved 
chair and resting his hand upon the arm of the doctor. 
" It shall not be because I fail to care, if I am not a 
friend of others in your little plantation as well. I have 
written a letter this afternoon to your governor, and if 
you will carry it with you to-morrow, I shall be greatly 
your debtor." 

The governor arose and stepping across to the rude 

89 



HERO TALES 

little table, which served him as desk, he picked up a 
folded sheet, sealed and directed to " The Governor of 
Plimouth Plantation." 

" Our deepest gratitude goes with this," he added 
gravely as he placed the letter in the hands of Dr. 
Fuller. '' Only you can guess how grateful we really 
are." 

Dr. Fuller gazed before him into the fire, but his 
eyes, dimmed by emotion and seeing in vision the little 
colony on the bay, far away beyond the stretch of for- 
ests, did not see the glowing sparks which danced up- 
ward before him. The two men stood silent for a little, 
absorbed in thought, both of them striving with eager 
guesses to pierce that blind veil which hid the future 
from their sight. Theirs was the anxious solicitude of 
the mother who yearns to know the future which lies 
before the beloved child, and to be assured that all will 
be well. 

They must have been far-sighted indeed, did they 
foresee the consequences of their friendly intercourse, 
but to us who look backward, the letter which Dr. 
Fuller carried on his homeward journey to Governor 
Bradford, is a document of the greatest interest. It 
was the spirit of friendship and regard, of open-minded- 
ness and tolerance which pervaded it, which was to make 
possible the establishment of Congregationalism in New 
England. 

This letter was as follows: 

90 






j^ 



A WISE PHYSICIAN 

" Right worthy S^" : 

" It is a thing not usuall, that servants to one m^. 
and of y^ same household should be strangers ; I assure 
you I desire it not, nay, to speake more plainly, I cannot 
be so to you. Gods people are all marked with one and 
ye same marke, and sealed with one and ye same seale, 
and have for ye maine, one & ye same harte, guided 
by one & same spirite of truth; and wher this is, ther 
can be no discorde, nay, here must needs be sweete har- 
monic. And ye same request (with you) I make unto 
ye Lord, that we may, as Christian breethren, be united 
by a heavenly & unfained love; bending all our harts 
and forces In furthering a worke beyond our strength, 
with reverence & fear, fastening our eyse allways on 
him that only is able to directe and prosper all our ways. 
I acknowledge my selfe much bound to you for your 
kind love and care in sending Mi". Fuller among us, and 
rejoyce much yt I am by him satisfied touching your 
judgments of ye outward forme of Gods worshipe. It 
is, as farr as I can yet gather, no other then is warrented 
by ye evidence of truth, and ye same which I have 
proffessed and maintained ever since ye Lord in mercie 
revealed him selfe unto me; being farr from ye com- 
mone reporte that hath been spread of you touching 
that pertlculer. But Gods children must not looke for 
less here below, and it is ye great mercie of God, that 
he strengthens them to goe through with it. I shall 
not neede at this time to be tedious unto you, for, God 

91 



HERO TALES 

willing, I purpose to see your face shortly. In ye mean 
time, I humbly take my leave of you, comiting you to 
ye Lords blessed protection, & rest, 

" Your assured loving friend, 

"Jo: Endecott. 
" Naumkeak, May ii. An°. 1629." ^ 

The snow had gone from the hills when Dr. Fuller 
arrived in Plymouth one May day and the little town 
looked very good to him after his long absence. His 
heart was glad over the good report he was able to 
bring and warm with the new friendships he had made. 
He was a man who hesitated to believe ill of any, and 
had been known to plead for criminals in the Plymouth 
Court undeserving of such interest. Now with thoughts 
full of the good friends he had left behind and the joy- 
ous welcome home which was before him, Samuel Ful- 
ler entered the house of the governor to deliver his 
letter. 

Let us leave him there in the rough log house — a 
rude habitation for a governor, but it sheltered a great 
man. It is our last glimpse of Plymouth. Dear little 
village, with the terrible ocean which it was so difficult 
to cross on the one side, and on the other a western 
land which it could scarcely even imagine! All alone 
it had been in a new world. But now there are neigh- 
bors at last to the north — Englishmen with aims and 

* " The History of Piimouth Plantation,'* pp. 315, 316. 

92 



A WISE PHYSICIAN 

doctrine and religion like Its own. The little street Is 
not so lonely to-day as when we saw it first. 

There are a few more houses and the grass Is 
springing up in the dooryards. There are a few flow- 
ers here and there. Who Is this who Is just coming 
around the house corner, with that cluster of arbutus 
In her hand and a young woman at her side? — Alice 
Carpenter, the second wife of Governor Bradford, with 
the maiden Priscilla. A little boy comes running after 
her, his hand, too, full of flowers. That Is Peregrine 
White. 

Down the street we hear more gay voices, — doubt- 
less little Samuel Fuller, Henry Samson and Samuel 
Eaton are among the number. Life is not all gloomy 
In the Pilgrim Colony. But we cannot linger. The 
bay Is glistening In the sunlight, and our boat Is wait- 
ing ready to bear us away In our search for another 
hero. Farewell Plymouth, cradle of our church's 
infancy. 

Not In vain had she prepared a living model for 
those who were to follow her, and not In vain had Sam- 
uel Fuller taken his journey. In the summer of 1629 
the Salem church was formed. The pastor and teacher 
were chosen by the congregation, as were also the elders 
and deacons, and were ordained by their own people, an 
event of the greatest significance. Not only was the 
independence of the local church thus maintained, but a 
beginning was made of that Congregational fellowship 

93 



HERO TALES 

and mutual helpfulness of churches which has continued 
up to the present day. It is true that the Salem church 
still held itself to be a part of the mother Church, but 
separated as it was by miles of ocean, this distinction 
was practically of no moment, except as it saved the 
little church from Interference by the home powers. 

The story of the Dorchester church is a very similar 
one. Here, too. Dr. Fuller came to labor among the 
sick, setting forth at the same time his ideas of church 
polity. The similarity among all the early churches 
which swiftly followed Is very marked. They were 
distinctly Congregational, in covenant, In religious 
membership, in form of worship, and in method of gov- 
ernment. The great danger of the death of Congrega- 
tionalism In Infancy from sheer lack of numbers was 
past. At last it had a sure foothold in New England. 



94 



VIII 

The Sermon which Helped to Mold 
the Commonwealth 



IT was on a Thursday, the thirty-first of May, 1638, 
that the sermon was preached. The General 
Court of Hartford, Connecticut, was holding an ad- 
journed session to consider a very important matter, 
nothing less indeed than the constitution of the colony, 
and the meeting-house was crowded, for on this day the 
eloquent and famous preacher, the leader of the colony, 
was to preach, or rather lecture, to the court. 

The little colony of Connecticut was now two years 
old, and in April the General Court had met to form 
those fundamental laws of the Connecticut constitution 
which were finally formally adopted in the beginning 
of the following year. The winter preceding had been 
unusually severe and many cattle and some men had 
died because of its hardships, but even these calamities 
did not hinder the far-sighted leaders of the colony 
from the ambitious purpose to found a government of 

95 



HERO TALES 

their own which should be according to their own 
ideals. 

This was a greater aim than may appear at first 
thought. All the English colonies of what is now New 
England were considered as a matter of course to be 
subject to the English crown, with freedom to frame 
their own government only as it had been especially 
granted to them by royal charters. As a matter of fact, 
however, the rule of England was more a thing of the- 
ory than an actual reality. The distance was too great 
between the home land and the new world to admit of 
any royal control except in matters of great importance, 
and the new colonies were like boys sent to college in 
a far distant state, independent of the home rule in all 
every-day affairs, and to a very large extent their own 
masters. 

Connecticut, however, had another besides the king 
who claimed rule over her, — the Massachusetts colony 
which she had only recently left and who still regarded 
her as subject to its control. When the Connecticut col- 
onists had set out upon their journey from the old town 
of Cambridge, or Newtown as It was then called, to 
Hartford, eight commissioners were appointed by the 
Massachusetts colony to " govern the people at Con- 
necticut." But the same cause which rendered Massa- 
chusetts practically Independent of England operated 
again to free Connecticut from her more powerful 
neighbor. The distance was too great for frequent 

96 



THE SERMON 

communication, Connecticut must fight her own wars 
with the Indians, she alone must punish her criminals, 
and now thus early In her history did she assert that 
she alone would frame her own government. 

She was the more eager to do this because of the 
different political opinions held In the colonies. Even 
before the separation of the two It Is easy to trace the 
preference of the Newtown people for a democratic 
government. The Massachusetts colony was aristo- 
cratic. It counted many men of family and position 
among Its members, and these held that the state should 
be governed by the few, the noblest and the wisest and 
the best to be sure, but still only a few, while the New- 
town people were tending more and more toward a true 
democracy, the government of the people by the people, 
— by all the people. 

Democracy had been hitherto a name of reproach, 
a thing to be avoided with fear, as a form of govern- 
ment which In all the world's history had never been 
established, a wild vision of unpractical dreamers. The 
germ idea had, however, long existed In the Separatist 
or Congregational churches. One great man had 
thought the Idea through to its logical outcome In the 
political world. The opportunity was now before him 
to Impress this ideal upon a body of legislators met 
together to frame the constitution of a new state. 
Would he succeed? 

The old meeting-house, the gathering place for 

97 



HERO TALES 

politics and religion alike for ninety-nine years, stood 
in the midst of what is now the Old State House Square 
and on either side were the stocks and the whipping- 
post, the pillory and the jail. Perhaps an offender or 
two was even then on the stocks that lecture day as 
Pastor Thomas Hooker walked across the meeting- 
house yard to the place of worship. The new meeting- 
house was well filled as the reverend preacher went up 
the aisle to the bare pulpit, all arising to do him honor, 
according to custom. 

In the front of the audience among a group of 
young men was one with an alert, eager look and keen 
attention which might well attract the notice of any 
preacher. As the service went on Thomas Hooker 
found himself more than once speaking to this young 
man, but little more than twenty, who with earnest, 
intent eyes followed his every argument and appeal, 
and now and then wrote painstakingly in a note-book 
as the wonderful sermon passed on from point to point, 
and from argument to argument. 

It was a long lecture, and as we in these days are 
not good listeners, as our forefathers were, let us peep 
over the shoulder of young Wolcott as he sits there 
writing, and see what he has set down in his note-book. 
It is all in very careful order, so we shall learn all the 
main ideas: 

" Text: Deut. i :i3. * Take you wise men, and un- 
derstanding, and known among your tribes, and I will 

98 




Plymouth Rock 



THE SERMON 

make them rulers over you.' Captains over thousands, 
and captains over hundreds — over fifties — over tens, &c. 

" Doctrine. I. That the choice of public magis- 
trates belongs unto the people by God's own allowance. 

" II. The privilege of election, which belongs to the 
people, therefore must not be exercised according to 
their humors, but according to the blessed will and law 
of God. 

" III. They who have the power to appoint officers 
and magistrates, it is in their power, also, to set the 
bounds and limitations of the power and place unto 
which they call them. 

^^ Reasons, i. Because the foundation of authority 
is laid, firstly, in the free consent of the people. 

" 2. Because, by a free choice, the hearts of the 
people will be more inclined to the love of the persons 
(chosen) and more ready to yield (obedience). 

" 3. Because of that duty and engagement of the 
people. 

" Uses, The lesson taught is threefold: 

" I St. There is matter of thankful acknowledg- 
ment, in the (appreciation) of God's faithfulness 
toward us, and the permission of these measures that 
God doth command and vouchsafe. 

" 2^h- Of reproof — to dash the conceits of all 
those that shall oppose it. 

" 3dly. Of exhortation — to persuade us, as God 
hath given us liberty, to take It. 

99 
LOFC. 



f •» - *». .* r /^/S- / Trvr 7r. ? 



HERO TALES 

" And lastly — as God hath spared our lives, and 
given them in liberty, so to seek the guidance of God, 
and to choose in God and for God." ^ 

It was a great sermon, and one which exercised a 
powerful influence without doubt upon the legisla- 
tors assembled in the old meeting-house. When the 
congregation passed out that day Thomas Hooker had 
accomplished the great deed of his life. He had es- 
tablished in the minds of great men the political ideals 
which were to mold the coming commonwealth. 

The principles which we have just seen jotted down 
in young Wolcott's note-book passed into the constitu- 
tion of the Connecticut colony, and later into the great 
constitution of the United States. This constitution of 
Connecticut was the " first written Constitution known 
to history that created a government, and it marked the 
beginnings of American democracy, of which Thomas 
Hooker deserves more than any other man to be called 
the father." ^ 

Thomas Hooker was one of the greatest preachers 
of his age. He was born in Marfield, England, in 
1586, and attained quite a little fame in his own coun- 
try as a preacher before he was obliged to flee because 
of nonconformity in 1636. After living for a short 

^ Conn. His. Soc. Coll., i. 20,21. as quoted in Walker's 
"Thomas Hooker,'* p. 125. 

^ John Fiske's «* Beginnings of New England,*' p. 127, as quoted 
in Walker's "Thomas Hooker," p. 128. 

100 



THE SERMON 

time in Holland he came to America, where he joined 
the Massachusetts colony, and was pastor over the 
church of Newtown, afterwards Cambridge. 

One of the probable reasons for the removal of this 
congregation to Connecticut has already been hinted at. 
At the time the desire for more land was given as the 
alleged reason for their departure, but In that newly set- 
tled country there was room enough for all, even near 
the flourishing colonial centers, and it seems likely that 
these freedom-loving men and women longed for a place 
where they might manage both their ecclesiastical and 
religious affairs as they themselves might choose, un- 
trammeled by the somewhat aristocratic leaders of the 
Bay Colony. The removal to Hartford was made in 
1636 and we have already seen what was one of the 
first results of this newly-founded liberty. 

Thomas Hooker, the pastor of the Hartford 
church, was their leader in every way. The best de- 
scription of him which remains to us Is that which Cot- 
ton Mather wrote. He speaks of him as a man of 
wonderful ability, of quick and fervid disposition, but 
of great self-control. Through his printed sermons one 
can discover the orator, the man of power. With his 
homely, striking Illustrations, his searching analyses of 
the very Inmost emotions of the heart, and his sympa- 
thetic, single-minded emphasis upon the relation of man 
to his God, his sermons never failed to exert a marked 
and lasting influence upon the hearts of his hearers. 

lOI 



HERO TALES 

His talents as an author were of no mean order, 
although his works for the most part consist of dis- 
courses not designed primarily for print. There is one 
exception only, the " Survey of the Summe of Church 
Discipline," which is a work with a history. It was 
written only because of the severe importunity of his 
friends, who wished Hooker to make a reply to what 
they considered a very erroneous book written by Prof. 
Samuel Rutherford entitled " The Due Right of Pres- 
byteries," and was lost while on its way to England for 
publication. Hooker finally rewrote it, much against 
his own wishes, but the second manuscript was not 
wholly completed to the author's satisfaction, and so 
can hardly be regarded as a perfect illustration of what 
he might have accomplished as an author. 

His greatest achievements were his sermons which, 
even in the printed page, do not wholly lose their force 
or interest although over two hundred years have passed 
since they were uttered. 

The notes of the sermon before the council in 
Hartford, which have just been quoted on the preced- 
ing pages, have an interesting history. For over two 
centuries they lay unnoticed in a little manuscript book 
which at last came before the attention of Dr. J. Ham- 
mond Trumbull of Hartford. The little book, only 
about five inches long by four wide, was written in 
cipher and contained notes of sermons and lectures by 
four pastors, including Thomas Hooker and his associ- 

IQZ 



THE SERMON 

ate minister, Dr. Stone. The task of deciphering it 
was a very difficult one. The alphabet was identified, 
but the writer had made use of many arbitrary signs of 
his own which rendered the meaning much more ob- 
scure. The labors of Dr. Trumbull were fully re- 
warded, however, when the Important sermon before 
the council was deciphered and he realized what it 
meant in the history of the Commonwealth. Prof. 
Alexander Johnston says of It : 

" Here is the first practical assertion of the right 
of the people not only to choose but to limit the powers 
of their rulers, an assertion which lies at the founda- 
tion of the American system. There Is no reference to 

* dread sovereign,' no reservation of deference to any 
class, not even to the class to which the speaker himself 
belonged. Each Individual was to exercise his rights 

* according to the blessed will and law of God,' but he 
was to be responsible to God alone for his fulfillment 
of the obligation. The whole contains the germ of the 
idea of the Commonwealth, and It was developed by 
his hearers into the Constitution of 1639. It is on the 
banks of the Connecticut, under the mighty preaching 
of Thomas Hooker, and In the constitution to which 
he gave life, if not form, that we draw the first breath 
of that atmosphere which Is now so familiar to us." ^ 



^ Connecticut, p. 72, as quoted by Walker in <« Thomas Hooker,'* 
pp. 127, 128. 

103 



r- 



IX 

A Bible which Cannot be Read 



THE first Bible ever printed in America Is a sealed 
book to all living beings, with the exception of 
a very few scholars, — just how few we cannot tell. If 
the reader ever visits the libraries of Harvard or of 
Dartmouth College, he may see a copy of this old book, 
brown and worn with age, and look upon a page of the 
Scriptures translated into a tongue once spoken In New 
England, but now unheard upon the face of the earth. 
Its long, many-syllabled words appear almost unpro- 
nounceable; there Is no likeness to Latin or French or 
any of the languages which may have come to wear a 
familiar aspect to us ; it Is a savage tongue, a reminder 
of a rough, wild people who have faded away like melt- 
ing snow before the warm, full tide of an inrushing 
civilization; and as we look at the long page of unin- 
telligible polysyllables, we almost sigh as we Imagine 
the weariness of the translator, and are tempted to 
exclaim, " Oh, what a pity that all this labor was so 
wasted! " 

104 



wOw<*«wO»i»i»^Mfc^|M>l 



A BIBLE WHICH CANNOT BE READ 

Why should we call the man who made this useless 
translation a hero ? He must have been a mistaken hero 
at best to have spent so much for naught. Nay, let us 
look at his endeavors. 

It was the year 1631 when John Eliot arrived in 
Boston and the young pastor was twenty-eight years 
old. In his Immediate vicinity lived Christian men 
and women, his brothers and sisters in faith and 
habits of life. They approved of the same customs, 
they held to the same beliefs, and the little villages 
about Boston Bay were very happy together In spite 
of their hardships. Those who differed from them 
had been left far behind across a mighty waste of 
ocean. 

But every now and then, like ugly shapes in a happy 
dream, John Eliot saw dark men from the forests ap- 
pear among them. None of them lingered long. They 
came and went, unknown men, uncomprehended men 
from the forest world, and gradually thoughts of them 
weighed upon him as he learned a little more of their 
numbers and their benighted condition. 

On every side were wandering tribes, differing to 
some degree In language and natural disposition, but 
still very much alike in their degradation and their 
need. Far off to the west were the Mohawks, " six 
nations " of them, a savage, restless people. There to 
the southwest were the Narragansetts, to the northward 
the Wamesit tribes, and still nearer the Nipmucks. It 

105 






HERO TALES 

was a wide field of spiritual desolation, but Eliot as he 
looked upon it thought that even there might be found 
some good soil for the Lord's planting. 

The Puritan and Pilgrim forefathers, busy as they 
had been in founding and strengthening their feeble 
colonies, had not deemed it their duty thus far to turn 
scarcely any of their time or strength toward missionary 
labors, but the conscience of John Eliot did not allow 
him to rest thus satisfied. " Prayers and pains through 
faith in Christ Jesus, will do anything," he wrote later 
at the close of one of his translations.^ 

To a man with such convictions nothing was impos- 
sible, and before 1648 he had begun to study the Indian 
language with an Indian, probably one named Job 
Nesutan, who lived with him at one time in his home. 
We can imagine the difficulty of the process. He was 
to learn from a savage unaccustomed to teaching, sim- 
ply through conversation, the vocabulary and construc- 
tion of a language which had no similarity to any which 
he knew and which had no written books to guide him. 
He was to pursue this study through many years until 
at last he could come to recognize not merely what the 
language possessed but also in what it was lacking, and 
by coinage of new words for it, make it a fit medium 
for use in the literature which by translation he should 
create. 

^ Eliot's Indian Grammar, as quoted by Adams in his *' Life of 
John Eliot,*' pp. 78, 79. 

106 



■» i H wd^t >u li«riaii 



A BIBLE WHICH CANNOT BE READ 

John Eliot had not the leisure of a scholar. About 
a year after his arrival in America, he had accepted 
the pastorate of the Roxbury Church, which had fol- 
lowed him across the water. From that time on, some- 
times with colleagues and sometimes without, he was a 
loving and faithful minister to the congregation under 
his charge. Many stories are told by Cotton Mather 
of his generosity, his devotion to spiritual aims, and his 
readiness to draw words of helpfulness and wisdom out 
of any circumstances wherein he was thrown. 

" I was never with him but I got or might have got 
some good from him.'* ^ This is the statement which 
Cotton Mather says more than one friend made con- 
cerning him. 

But although thus busied with the cares of an im- 
portant parish, John Eliot began in 1646 his divinely- 
imposed task of preaching among the Indians of No- 
nantum, now a part of Newton, and his field of labor 
continually widened until at the time of his death he was 
known among the Indians of widely remote parts and 
the limits of his influence among them it would be hard 
to define. 

It is impossible here even to touch upon his work as 
a preacher and organizer among them. The fact that 
he is called " The Apostle to the Indians " is only 
faintly illustrative of his preeminence among our mis- 
sionaries to the red race. It was a well-earned title, 
* Magnalia, Vol. Ill, Part III, p. 583. 
107 



HERO TALES 

and though Eliot protested against its use, it has become 
almost inseparable from his name. 

His ability as an organizer and educator of the 
Indians is scarcely less remarkable than his wonderful 
power of reaching their hearts with the gospel message. 
He wisely recognized that education and some degree 
of material civilization and industry must be cultivated 
simultaneously with the spiritual life, and so, as soon 
as it became financially possible, the praying Indians, as 
they were called, were established in villages with a 
government of their own, and every possible incentive 
to industrious labor. In 1660 there were fourteen 
places of praying Indians. But however much Eliot 
surpassed his fellow missionaries in the success of his 
evangelical labors and however great the credit he de- 
served as being among the very first to enter this most 
difficult field of work, it is in his unparalleled work of 
creating an Indian literature that his unique fame rests. 

From the year 1649 at least the plan of translating 
Bible selections for the Indians was evidently in his 
mind, for in a letter to Winslow he spoke of his desire 
" to translate some parts of the Scripture." Doubtless 
from that time on, as opportunity afforded he worked 
during any leisure moments with this great aim in view. 
How many nights, when wearied with the trying duties 
of his pastorate, or with his still more arduous journeys 
among the red men, did he doubtless sit at his study 
table laboring over the gigantic task which he had set 

108 



A BIBLE WHICH CANNOT BE READ 

before himself ! Still more frequently, perhaps, did the 
early morning find him awake and busy, for he seldom 
indulged in many hours of sleep. From Eliot's counsel 
to young students we may draw a guess as to his own 
habits. " I pray you,'' he often said, " look to it that 
you be morning birds." ^ 

May we not imagine him on some of those summer 
mornings of long ago, seated beside his study window 
while the dawn had scarcely yet brightened into full 
daylight, ready to wrestle with the difficulties of his 
written pages? Here is a word for which there is no 
Indian equivalent — well, one must be invented, and 
Eliot chooses the English expression but remakes its 
ending after the Indian manner. Here is a complicated 
phrase — the Indian construction must be arranged with 
great care. Just what did the sacred writer mean by 
this text? — the conscientious translator must needs be a 
thorough scholar that he may not distort these holiest 
of pages. " I look at it," he exclaims, " as a sacred 
and holy work, to be regarded with much fear, care and 
reverence." ^ Let us peep over his shoulder at some of 
these long words: Noowomantammoonkanunonnash," 
" our loves," Kummogkodonattoottummooetiteaongan- 
nunnonash, " our question." ^ Two of these are 
enough ! 

^ Convers Francis, p. 320. 

^ Ibid., p. 218. 

2 Magnalia, Vol. Ill, Part III, p. 561. 

109 



HERO TALES 

The morning light is growing brighter. The birds 
have finished their morning jubilee and now more home- 
ly sounds reach our ears — the crowing of the cock, the 
cackling of hens, the scraping of the barn door, and 
the tinkle of the cow-bells. Those are Mistress Eliot's 
newly bought cows, for she it is who cares for the mate- 
rial welfare of the pastor's home. Fortunate it is that 
she is a prudent and wise home-maker, for without her 
the devoted man of God would surely suffer many pri- 
vations. Only yesterday, in all the pride of her fine 
stock of cattle, she drew him to the window and laugh- 
ingly asked him whose cows they were that were being 
driven down the lane, but the good man could not tell. 
He had completely forgotten them. 

John Eliot hears not the sound of the cow-bells now 
as they pass under his study window, nor does he notice 
the calls of Samuel and little Benjamin as they fly down 
the hall past the door. He is absorbed in meditation 
and as he sits there with face leaning upon his hands 
he sees not the morning light but the coming of a new 
and more glorious dawn. Over that savage world of 
night all about him he beholds In vision the breaking 
of the wonderful day of joy and knowledge, when it 
shall Indeed be true that " the people that walked In 
darkness have seen a great light.'' 

Would God but give him patience and strength to 
finish his work, and then, — when that task was complete 
would he send the money for its printing? No means 

no 



A BIBLE WHICH CANNOT BE READ 

are in sight for its publication, but with the trusting 
heart of faith John EHot turns again from his moments 
of prayer and vision, and takes up his pen once more. 
God will provide the money for his work, and so John 
Eliot goes on with the translation. 

The report of Eliot's extraordinary work among 
the Indians reached the mother country at length and 
was brought to the notice of several of the more promi- 
nent ministers about London, and through them to the 
attention of parliament. For two years much urgent 
business prevented the passing of any ordinance relating 
to this matter, but at last a corporation was instituted 
called " The President and Society for the Propagation 
of the Gospel in New England." Contributions for the 
carrying on of this work were solicited in the churches of 
England and Wales, and quite a considerable sum was 
collected, although not as much as had been expected. 

With this money and that raised later by the soci- 
ety, salaries were paid to some of the missionary preach- 
ers, schools were established, tools and other things 
necessary for the beginnings of the Indian villages 
obtained, and the publication of Eliot's translation made 
possible. 

The New Testament was published in September, 
1 66 1, at the expense of the society. The Indian title 
is as follows: *' Wuskee Wuttestamentum Nul-Lordu- 
num Jesus Christ Nuppoquohwussuaeneumun." King 
Charles the Second had only recently reascended the 

III 



HERO TALES 

throne, and a dedication to him was Inserted with the 
hope that he might thus be led to regard more favor- 
ably the newly formed society. Twenty copies of the 
New Testament were given away in England to the 
king and other persons of eminence. 

The printing of the Old Testament was finished in 
1663 after having been three years in progress. The 
Old and New Testaments were then bound up together 
and a translation of the Psalms in meter and a catechism 
were added. At last the work was finished! Can we 
Imagine with what joy Eliot took in his hands for the 
first time the completed book — the very Word of God, 
which he himself had rendered luminous to the red 
men whom he loved ? 

It was not wholly new to them. Already he had 
made many portions of the Bible familiar to his con- 
verts by his preaching and teaching. The sound of 
many texts had become well known to their ears. But 
now they would be able to see them with their own 
eyes, and to discover new texts and new truths for them- 
selves. The Bible could be now their constant com- 
forter. Two hundred copies of this first edition of the 
New Testament were bound up In leather for their use. 

This Bible was the first ever published in America 
and was printed with a press and types sent over from 
England by the society. Little did they imagine that 
In less than two hundred and fifty years it would be a 
sealed book to the people of New England. " It is a 

112 



A BIBLE WHICH CANNOT BE READ 

remarkable fact," says Convers Francis, '' that the lan- 
guage of a version of the Scriptures made so late as In 
the latter half of the seventeenth century should now be 
entirely extinct." ^ 

A second edition of the Bible was put out In 1685 
but it was the last. It Is rather probable that the 
first edition contained fifteen hundred copies, and from 
some letters written by John Eliot It Is known that two 
thousand were printed In the second edition. About 
thirty-five hundred Bibles then were used by the Indians 
and their teachers. That denotes probably about the 
actual usefulness of the translation, which In his visions 
John Eliot had Imagined would be a saving power to 
the coming generations long centuries after he had 
passed away. 

Only thirty-five hundred Bibles ! Yet, that Is not a 
number to be despised. And If we multiply It by the 
value of a soul, who can compute the possible good 
which so many copies of God's Word may accomplish ? 
If only one soul was raised from the darkness of 
heathendom to the glory of the heavenly mansions, 
who could dare to say the labor was not worth 
while ? 

One of the chief benefits of the translation Is of a 

sort of which Eliot, It Is probable, little dreamed. In 

this day of philological Interests it has come to be a 

priceless storehouse of Information regarding the " un- 

^ Life of John Eliot, p. 234. 



HERO TALES 

written dialects of barbarous nations." ^ An Indian 
grammar which was published by Eliot about 1668 is 
likewise of service to the science of language. 

But these teachings concerning the language of sav- 
age men is not all the message its mysterious pages bear 
for the world to-day. Unintelligible as it is to us, it 
yet tells us that a great man was its translator — a man 
great in patience, great in love, great In hope, and great 
in faith. We should miss much were the name of Eliot 
to be blotted out from our colonial history. These 
memories of great men are not the airy, unsubstantial 
things we sometimes deem them. They are realities, 
" realities which though they are not seen, are eternal." 
The influence of John Eliot will never cease. The flood 
of energy which he poured into his lifelong labors 
cannot be lost, but in ever widening, if ever lighter, 
waves, will reach unnumbered Americans yet to be 
born. 

Suppose he had failed to obey the call of conscience, 
and others had been likewise selfish. If only worldly 
greed and selfish motives had actuated the early settlers 
of Massachusetts in all their dealings with the red men, 
if only tales of wars and of avarice had come down to 
us, with what different feelings must we have regarded 
the early history of our beloved New England! No 
call would come from them to us to bid us be noble in 
our dealings with the alien among us. The lack of their 
* A quotation by Convers Francis, p. 238. 
114 



A BIBLE WHICH CANNOT BE READ 

stimulating example would have left us weaker in 
motive — how much weaker we scarcely realize. 

None but those who have struggled up from an 
ignoble home can appreciate how much easier it is for 
those well-born of true and brave fathers to be true and 
brave and good. Because those men of long ago tried 
to deal righteously with the poor savage whom they 
found in the land before them, we must be unselfish 
and move with Godlike kindness among these less for- 
tunate ones of many names and many races who are scat- 
tered everywhere, not only through New England but 
throughout the nation. Because John Eliot wrote his 
Indian Bible we, too, must set only heroic limits to our 
toil. 



IIS 



X 

The Prophet of Inoculation 



FAR at the uttermost ends of the earth the little 
provincial town of Boston was suffering in 1721 
the horrors of smallpox. It was a terrible time. For 
what reason the Lord had sent this punishment upon 
his people nobody knew. Their faults must have been 
very great at any rate, so they thought, to merit such 
a penalty, for the scourge was a severe one. The 
learned doctors of the time scarcely knew how to take 
up the battle against it; and the devil must have re- 
joiced, indeed, if, as the people believed, he were pres- 
ent in very truth In that New England, the possession 
of which by the people of righteousness he was so 
strongly contesting by every power he could summon. 
Suffering and loathsome disease filled every house; 
funeral processions were frequent upon the streets; 
every one was praying that the plague might be 
stayed. 

In the parsonage study of the North Church the 

116 



THE PROPHET OF INOCULATION 

minister sat quietly writing. From the window beside 
his desk he could look out into his little garden, now 
beautiful with all the fresh sweetness of the glad May 
month. The apple trees with their pink buds gave 
promise of the radiant beauty which they were soon to 
wear. Everything was fresh and full of promise. The 
very smell of the earth and of the slender little blades 
of grass was sweet. Only a day or two before Cotton 
Mather had written in his diary: "The Time of the 
year arrives for the glories of Nature to appear in my 
Garden. I will take my Walks there, on purpose to 
read the glories of my Saviour in them." ^ 

But now a flood of very different thoughts filled his 
heart, and the glow of a great hope. Only a little time 
previous he had read in some papers of the Royal Soci- 
ety of the great benefits which might result from Inocu- 
lation. The learned pastor of the North Church had 
in early life been educated as a physician; the theory 
appealed to him as true; it was a time of sorest need in 
his beloved little town; Inoculation had never before 
been tried in America, but Cotton Mather had faith to 
believe that It would succeed. Should he present his 
beliefs before the physicians of Boston, daring the Igno- 
rance and prejudice of the people? The devil, ventur- 
ing In his extremity even into the learned doctor's study, 
whispered to him not to expose himself thus to the anger 
of the people. But his counsel was In vain. That day 

^ Life by Wendell, p. 275. 
117 



HERO TALES 

Cotton Mather determined to present his views before 
the physicians of the town. 

In these days of enlightenment and universal vacci- 
nation, it is hard to realize what a clamor the simple 
advice of Dr. Cotton Mather raised about his ears. 
Every one seemed to be against the new idea, and many 
were enraged with the learned parson who had dared 
come down from his books and his prayers to tell the 
physicians how to save them. The enmity which al- 
ready existed against him in the hearts of not a few 
turned into curses and abuse, and good Dr. Cotton 
Mather was indeed in a sorry condition simply because 
he had tried to help those who were in such dire 
straits. 

May was over, June and July were passed, and still 
the anger against him grew. " I must exceedingly Re- 
joice,'^ he wrote, " in my Conformity to my Admirable 
Saviour: who was thus and worse Requited, when he 
. . . came to save their Souls." ^ 

At last in November the climax was reached. Cot- 
ton Mather had dared to inoculate his son Samuel, now 
a boy of fifteen and a student at Harvard, and both he 
and his sister Nancy had been very ill. They had 
finally recovered, however, and now in November a 
kinsman of Cotton Mather, pastor of the church in 
Roxbury, had come to his home to stay while recover- 
ing from his inoculation. The pest had begun to appear 
^ Life by Wendell, pp. 276, 277. 
118 



ttttflMHttHiMia 



THE PROPHET OF INOCULATION 

in his own parish, and he was anxious to be made proof 
against its worst results that he might be able to go 
freely in and out among his people's homes. 

It may be that Dr. Mather's parsonage was 
crowded at this time. At any rate, for some reason. 
Cotton Mather had given up his own sleeping-room to 
his relative during his illness. It was the night of the 
thirteenth of November, and all the members of the 
family had been for some time soundly sleeping. 
Slowly the old clock toiled on its never-ending journey 
toward the hour of three. All the little town of Bos- 
ton was wrapt in silent darkness when there appeared 
before the windows of Dr. Mather's usual sleeping- 
room several stealthy forms. One of them carried 
something round and heavy in his hand. Whatever it 
was it appeared to be an object of great solicitude on 
the part of all, for they watched it with concentrated 
eagerness. At last in the dim light of that darkest 
hour just before the dawn the leader threw his heavy 
ball hastily toward the window above him. There was 
a sound of crashing glass, a clatter of hasty feet, and 
the mysterious party whoever they were had vanished 
before Cotton Mather's guest or any of the household 
could rub their sleepy eyes or bring a candle to discover 
what had happened. 

When Cotton Mather at last appeared, tallow can- 
dle in hand, there on the floor of his bedroom lay the 
mysterious object — a heavy iron ball, charged on the 

119 



HERO TALES 

upper part with powder, the lower part with oil of tur- 
pentine, and other combustibles. Why had these failed 
to ignite and blow the occupant of the room into eter- 
nity? Cotton Mather in his diary gives two answers, 
one from the divine, the other from the human view- 
point: "But, this Night there stood by me the Angel 
of GOD, whose I am and whom I serve ; and the Merci- 
ful providence of my SAVIOUR so ordered it, that the 
Granado passing thro' the Window, had by the Iron in 
the middle of the Casement, such a Turn given to it, 
that In falling on the Floor, the fired wild-fire in the 
Fuse was violently shaken out upon the Floor, without 
firing the Granado." ^ Tied to the fuse was a note 
showing clearly the purpose of those dark forms and 
still more darkened minds who were gathered not long 
before inside the parsonage yard. Through such perse- 
cutions the saving truths of civilization often have been 
brought to the knowledge and the help of man ! Who- 
ever advocates one such truth regardless of his reputa- 
tion or personal peril is a hero. It may be that he over- 
estimated his own peril, but still it is with a thrill of 
admiration that we read what Cotton Mather wrote de- 
scriptive of his feelings at this time : 

" I have been guilty of such a crime as this. I have 
communicated a never-failing method of preventing 
death and other grievous miseries, by a terrible distem- 
per among my neighbors. Every day demonstrated 
* Life by Wendell, pp. 279, 280. 
120 



THE PROPHET OF INOCULATION 

that if I had been hearkened unto many persons' lives 
(many hundreds) had been saved. The opposition to 
it has been carried on with senseless ignorance and rag- 
ing wickedness. But the growing triumphs of truth 
over it threw a possessed people into a fury which will 
probably cost me my life. I have proofs that there are 
people who approved and applauded the action of 
Tuesday morning, and who give out words that, though 
the first blow miscarried, there will quickly come an- 
other, that shall do their business more effectually. 
Now, I am so far from any melancholy fear on this 
occasion, that I am filled with unutterable joy at the 
prospect of my approaching martyrdom. I know not 
what is the meaning of it. I find my mouth strangely 
stayed, my heart strangely cold, if I go to ask for a 
deliverance from it. But when I think on my suffering 
death for saving the lives of dying people, it even 
ravishes me with a joy unspeakable, and full of glory. 
I cannot help longing for the hour when it will be ac- 
complished. I am even afraid almost of doing any- 
thing for my preservation. I have a crown before me, 
and I know by feeling, what I formerly knew only by 
reading, of the divine consolation with which the minds 
of martyrs have been sometimes irradiated. I had 
much rather die by such hands as now threaten my life 
than by a fever; and much rather die for my conform- 
ity to my blessed Jesus, in essays to save the lives of 
men from the destroyer, than for some truths, tho' 

121 



HERO TALES 

precious ones, to which many martyrs testified formerly 
in the fires of Smithfield." ^ 

Later in that same month Cotton Mather sent out 
to far-off districts his saving message of inoculation. 

The preceding Is but one little incident in the busy 
life of the famous Cotton Mather. He lived from 
1663 to 1728, sixty-five years, and his life was not 
merely filled, It was crowded, with good and noble 
deeds. He was the grandson of John Cotton and 
Richard Mather, two eminent men In the early history 
of Congregationalism, and the son of Dr. Increase 
Mather, pastor of the North Church In Boston, for 
many years president of Harvard College, and a skil- 
ful diplomatist and ambassador upon matters of state to 
England. Cotton Mather was descended from men of 
power. All the learning available In New England at 
that time was his. When scarcely of age he came into a 
position of great Influence and authority. In which he 
was able to utilize his most extraordinary faculties of 
memory, concentration, and Intellectual grasp. His an- 
cestry, his education, his natural talents, the lack of 
great competitors, all combined to render him a master 
of the situation in which he found himself. 

That situation was an Important one when viewed 
as the nursery of the New England which was to fol- 
low. In material wealth. In size. In Its relation at the 

^ As quoted by A. P. Marvin in *« Life and Times of Cotton 
Mather," pp. 480, 481. 

122 



THE PROPHET OF INOCULATION 

time to the world at large It was Insignificant. Boston 
was a mere provincial town, only a little colony In the 
remote corner of the world. A great man there might 
be but a very ordinary person In the centers of Europe. 

This environment, this ancestry, while it helped to 
make him great, also placed certain limitations upon his 
thought and life. In these narrowing influences we 
may find the cause of many defects which have been 
criticized from the day of his death until the present 
time. 

The most prominent of these, known to almost 
every one, is that which has to do with his conduct at 
the time of the Salem witchcraft. Cotton Mather, as 
the most prominent man of his community, has been the 
most conspicuous In the action which was taken at that 
time, until we almost forget that his opinion was the 
opinion of the many, and attribute to him more than 
his share of the responsibility for the awful mistakes 
which were then made. In these days when supersti- 
tion has almost taken its flight It Is hard to understand 
how such errors of judgment could have been possible, 
as when upon the evidence of people In a state of frenzy 
and possible insanity a minister of the gospel, a grad- 
uate of Harvard College and one who for twenty years 
had endeavored to lead people to righteousness, could 
have been condemned to death! 

But that Cotton Mather was honest In his opinion, 
that he was acting upon the best light of his own con- 

123 



HERO TALES 

science, it seems almost necessary to believe. His 
diary, written in the privacy of his study with personal 
reflections evidently intended for himself and God 
alone, bears witness to this. He believed that God had 
led his people to this new land to perform a work 
really planned and preordained by Him. They were 
indeed fighting the fight of the Lord on those grim 
shores of the new world. And as their work for God 
was very real, so were all the enemies which fought 
against them. Satan himself was contending on the 
other side, seeking to defeat their righteous aims. He 
had tried famine and bitter hardship, persecution by 
foes at home and terrible attacks by their Indian neigh- 
bors. Now he had taken up at last a deadlier, more 
supernatural and diabolical weapon through human 
agents who had submitted to him. He was bewitching 
men, a mysterious warfare which they knew not how 
to meet. It was not a time, so they thought, for hesi- 
tation or half-way measures. With fasting and prayers 
they sought to save the tormented creatures, but they 
did not shrink from putting to death those whom they 
believed to be Satan's agents. 

Cotton Mather was honest in believing that this 
was advisable. To him the spirits and angels who sur- 
rounded him were as real as his own children whose 
hands he could touch. Did they not appear to him 
within his own study walls in visions which he could not 
describe? This material world was Indeed about him 

124 



THE PROPHET OF INOCULATION 

for the moment, but it was the world of eternity in 
which he Hved, of which he dreamed and for which he 
labored. This earthly life was not important when 
viewed in the glory which shone sometimes upon him 
from the spirit world to which he was hastening. It 
was but the school in which man was fitted for the great 
existence which awaited him. 

And so, with all the unwavering will which he 
possessed, he hardly ever passed an hour without doing 
something which he believed would make either himself 
or some one else better. This is the secret of what is 
perhaps his most conspicuous trait — his phenomenal ac- 
tivity. He accomplished an almost incredible amount 
of work. Here is a sample quotation from his diary, 
illustrative of one day's labors. It was written in Latin, 
and I find it translated in Wendell's life of Cotton 
Mather as follows : 

" Read Exodus, etc.: Prayed: Examined the chil- 
dren : read Descartes : read commentators, etc. : break- 
fasted: prepared sermon: took part in family prayer: 
heard pupils recite: read Salmon on medicine: dined: 
visited many friends : read various books : prepared ser- 
mon : heard pupils recite : meditated, etc. : prayed : 
supped: prepared sermon: took part in family pray- 
er." 1 

With all this ceaseless striving and his wonderful 
powers, why did not Cotton Mather accomplish still 
^ Note p. 54, Wendell, *' Cotton Mather.** 
125 



HERO TALES 

more for the good of the race? Why is he but a dim 
figure, associated for the most part only with one's 
thoughts of witchcraft, calling up in the imagination 
only a picture of a bewigged scholar in some ancient, 
musty library, or an awesome preacher in his velvet pul- 
pit proclaiming a stern creed and an intricate theology ? 
Why was he not a living force, whose waves of energy 
might be felt in all our mighty, throbbing past and 
present ? 

Cotton Mather's life was largely a failure. Unlike 
his views upon inoculation, his thought ran for the most 
part behind rather than before that of his time. Per- 
haps we may find in this fact the cause of the sad fail- 
ure of most of his work. Great men must lead, not fol- 
low, their own generation. Cotton Mather was the 
follower of his father, and his grandfathers ; he upheld 
the old standards of Puritanism; he was too genuine a 
product of the old New England environment to under- 
stand clearly the problems of his own time or to find 
their solutions. He saw the ideals for which he had 
cared and labored most developing in a direction exactly 
the opposite of what he deemed right. The state, the 
church, Harvard College, all were failing to measure 
up to the ideal he had for them, — nay more, they were 
denying that ideal. And he in turn had failed them. 
The latter part of his life was a tragedy. 

But did it indeed all count for nothing? No. It 
may be hard to sum up in words the exact heritage 

126 



THE PROPHET OF INOCULATION 

which Cotton Mather has handed down to us, but moral 
earnestness, devotion to duty, unwavering conscientious- 
ness, tireless seeking after God, can never be without 
fruit. It is because of these heroic qualities In some 
of our misguided, solemn forefathers that we of to-day 
find it easier to be noble and true and earnest. We 
have a freedom of which they did not dream, opportu- 
nities which they only dimly conceived, luxuries and 
joys which they could scarcely Imagine, but let us be in 
earnest in what we do, as they w^ere In earnest. Truth 
Is greater than pleasure; In duty conscientiously per- 
formed we find our greatest freedom. The visions of 
Cotton Mather are better than worldly wisdom. He 
with others helped to make New England a godly land. 



T27 



XI 

How David Brainerd Preached to 
the Red Men 



ASCACOMBA was weary and the day was warm. 
It was August, and all that month the sun had 
shone out brightly over the forests and the rivers, the 
clouds had been few and the fields of corn were parched 
and yellow. Ascacomba had been very unhappy. Her 
little son, her only child, had died during one of the 
hot days, and her husband had been very angry with 
her, laying it all to Ascacomba's fault. He had been 
very glad to have a son, looking forward in his hopes 
to the day when he should become a brave and go with 
him to the hunt, but that was simply because of his 
pride. As a baby he had cared nothing for him. But 
Ascacomba cared. She had loved him passionately, 
with all the strength of her wild woman's heart, and his 
death had made her furious with grief. 

For her there was no ray of light. She seemed to 
have descended into a darkness blacker than night. In 

128 



DAVID BRAINERD 

her anguish she longed to do something wicked, to 
mock at everything good. To-day she had come twenty 
miles with her husband to the little Indian village of 
Crossweeksung in New Jersey. All the Indians o! 
that vicinity had been assembling for weeks to hear the 
wonderful sermons of the white man, David Brainerd, 
and finally her husband, becoming interested in the 
stories of his neighbors, had decided to go too and had 
commanded her to accompany him. 

Only just now she had seen the missionary. Her 
husband, Moxus, had stopped to call upon him In his 
little hut, and David Brainerd had invited them to the 
meeting which was to be held Immediately in the rough 
chapel of the forest before the chiefs wigwam. At his 
invitation all the bitterness In Ascacomba's soul had 
risen up In revolt and she had laughed and mocked at 
the very kindness of the good man. She was glad she 
had done so, and now she sat sullenly beside her hus- 
band on the rough board floor waiting for the sermon. 

There was no anthem. The little birds on the leafy 
branches outside sang a hymn of praise as the green 
boughs swayed to and fro under the blue sky, and the 
murmur of the leaves In the summer breeze was all the 
accompaniment they had, but the Incense of balsam and 
sweet-fern and all the sweet odors of the woods arose In 
the warm air, and God was well pleased to descend 
into the forest chapel to meet his Indian children. 

David Brainerd's heart was full of joy as he came 

129 



HERO TALES 

into the rude little church and saw the men and women 
awaiting him. About sixty-five had assembled from the 
surrounding country and the house could not contain 
them all, so some were clustered about the open door 
waiting to hear what the white stranger had to say. 

David Brainerd climbed upon a rude platform and 
read a few verses from Luke: 

" Then said he unto him, A certain man made a 
great supper, and bade many: and sent his servant at 
supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; 
for all things are now ready. And they all with one 
consent began to make excuse. . . . 

" So that servant came, and shewed his lord these 
things. Then the master of the house being angry said 
to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and 
lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the 
maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 

" And the servant said. Lord, it is done as thou 
hast commanded, and yet there is room. 

" And the lord said unto the servant. Go out into 
the highways and hedges, and compel them to come In, 
that my house may be filled." 

The preacher was pale and thin and his face bore 
many traces of suffering. He was hardly the sort of 
hero one would have chosen to lead these brave, stal- 
wart hunters of the New Jersey forests. What was 
there in that thin, emaciated form, or that scholarly, 
thoughtful face which held their attention? David 

130 




: 



DAVID BRAINERD 

Brainerd had only just returned from a visit to his 
Indian friends at the Forks of the Delaware. His 
clothing was worn almost to rags, and he bore evident 
marks of sickness and failing strength. For over two 
years now he had labored among the savages and the 
vigor of his youth had been spent, although he was only 
twenty-seven years of age. But if the bodily strength 
of that Indian missionary had waned, his spiritual 
power had grown in wondrous fashion, and as he 
preached to the little company before him, every form 
was motionless and attentive. 

Ascacomba listened as silently as any of the others. 
'' Could it be that she was invited to this great feast? 
She knew that she was not among those first invited, or 
even among those poor and halt and maimed. Would 
she be among the very last who were compelled to come 
in? Did this great Lord, the Chief of all the world, 
care that she, poor, wretched Ascacomba, should be 
made happy and glad again? '* 

When the white man at the close of his sermon 
proceeded to speak to some of the Indians individually, 
it seemed to her that she could bear it no longer. The 
power of the Highest seemed to descend upon the little 
congregation, and like a " rushing mighty wind '* bore 
down all her opposition and swept away all her bitter- 
ness. It was as if a flood of great waters had broken 
over her and all the little company. Old men who had 
been drunkards for years were praying at her side. 

131 



HERO TALES 

Women whom she knew to be abandoned to sin sobbed 
and moaned. There was old Nesutan who had beaten 
her son's wife dally, and never spoken a kind word to 
her for years, crying out in sorrow for her wicked heart. 

Ascacomba had never even thought whether she had 
a soul before. Had she a soul, and had old Nesutan, 
just like the white man? Behind her a little boy only 
seven years old was telling David Brainerd the child- 
ish sins he had committed, and there in front of them 
all was old Oonamo, a leader among his people. He 
had always been supposed to be a great and good man, 
but here he, too, was desiring to be better, and lament- 
ing his wickedness just like old Nesutan. None of them 
seemed to take any notice of those about them but 
sobbed and prayed as they would have done had they 
been alone In the forest. 

The flood in Ascacomba's heart was mounting 
higher and higher. She felt that she could not much 
longer beat down this sorrow for her selfishness. If 
she could but scoff a little to Moxus ! "Aha," she cried, 
" they are cowards ! " 

But just then Moxus leaned toward her. " Little 
Ascacomba," he said, " I have been bad to you and to 
the little son. My heart, too, is heavy." 

Ascacomba could withstand no more. The flood 
overwhelmed her, and she flung herself weeping upon 
the floor. 

For many hours she lay there. She could neither 

132 



DAVID BRAINERD 

go nor stand, but lay sobbing and crying out, Guttum- 
maukalummeh wechaumeh kmeleh Ndah, — " Have 
mercy on me, and help me to give you my heart." 

Darkness came down upon the forest, the little birds 
had sung their evening praises, and the trees were very 
still, for the breeze had died away. The little stars 
were just peeping out behind the white clouds above 
when Ascacomba arose. The bitterness and the sin 
were all washed away and a great peace filled her heart. 

David Brainerd has written something about this 
day in the report which he made to the missionary or- 
ganization which sent him out. The report is entitled 
" The Rise and Progress of a remarkable Work of 
Grace Amongst a number of the Indians, In the Prov- 
inces of New Jersey and Pennsylvania; Justly repre- 
sented In a Journal kept by order of the Honorable 
Society (In Scotland) for Propagating Christian Knowl- 
edge; with some General Remarks; 

By David Brainerd, 

Minister of the Gospel, and Missionary from the said 
Society : Published by the Reverend and worthy Corre- 
spondents of the said Society; with a Preface by 
them." 1 

It Is a remarkable and Interesting story. David 

^ Quoted from "Life of David Brainerd" in Jonathan Edwards* 
"Works," 183s, Vol. II, p. 387. 



"^^^ 11 t I — ■.,—y ^----^ yrnr 



HERO TALES 

Brainerd was one of the first home missionaries of the 
new world, and he met with marvelous success. As 
seen in the title above he was sent out by a society in 
Scotland, through their correspondents in New York. 
It was probably not a matter of great expense, as the 
cost of his living among the Indians must have been 
very slight, and David Brainerd had more personal 
property than he himself needed after he entered upon 
this work, but the results of this small beginning of 
missionary enterprise in America were very great. Not 
only did David Brainerd transform the settlements 
among which he labored, but his life, as handed down 
to us by President Edwards, has been of Inspiration to 
hundreds entering upon the work of the ministry. 

In the beginning his labors seemed to bring forth 
but slight results. It was a long time before he was sure 
that any of those to whom he preached had really be- 
come true Christians. The first converts whom he bap- 
tized were his Interpreter, Moses Tinda Tautamy, and 
his wife. This man was afterwards of great assistance 
to him, often continuing to speak to the Indians after 
David Brainerd had finished his sermon, and through 
his sympathy and Interest In the work of saving souls, 
he was able to interpret to the Indians more effectively 
than another could have done. 

Together they passed through many difficulties 
which would have daunted a soul less set on doing the 
will of God than was Brainerd. At one time on a 

134 



DAVID BRAINERD 

journey to Susquehanna they endured great hard- 
ships. 

" After having lodged one night in the open woods, 
he was overtaken with a northeasterly storm, in which 
he was almost ready to perish. Having no manner of 
shelter, and not being able to make a fire in so great a 
rain, he could have no comfort if he stopt; therefore 
he determined to go forward in hopes of meeting with 
some shelter, without which he thought it impossible 
to live the night through; but their horses — happen- 
ing to have eat poison (for want of other food) at a 
place where they lodged the night before — were so 
sick that they could neither ride nor lead them, but were 
obliged to drive them and travel on foot ; until, through 
the mercy of God, just at dusk they came to a bark-hut, 
where they lodged that night. After he came to Sus- 
quehannah, he travelled about a hundred miles on the 
river, and visited many towns and settlements of the 
Indians; saw some of seven or eight distinct tribes; and 
preached to different nations by different interpreters." ^ 

This was shortly before he arrived at Crossweek- 
sung where he met with such great successes. Cross- 
weeksung is situated in New Jersey, not far from the 
Forks of the Delaware. The Indians at Kaunaumeek, 
where Brainerd had formerly labored, had decided to 
move to Stockbridge where there was a pastor, and so 
it had seemed best to Brainerd to go still farther away 

* Jonathan Edwards' "Works," 1835, Vol. II, p. 358. 



HERO TALES 

from his home and civilization to these Indians In New 
Jersey, although the prospect of great success there 
seemed very slight. The Indians at Crossweeksung 
were scattered over a wide territory, and when he first 
arrived at his new field he found only seven or eight 
women and children to whom to preach. These, how- 
ever, were so affected by his words that some of them 
traveled ten or fifteen miles the following day to gather 
their relatives and friends, and before long a respectable 
little company had assembled to attend the meetings 
which Brainerd held among them. Their Interest and 
attention were In marked contrast to what he had found 
in other places, and it was to his regret that he was 
obliged partly on account of his health and partly from 
duty to his other Indians, to return to the Forks of 
the Delaware, which he had first visited. 

As soon as possible, however, he came back to the 
Indians at Crossweeksung and they assembled as they 
had done before and lived together as long as he re- 
mained. At this time began that wonderful series of 
meetings, one of which we have just endeavored to de- 
scribe. 

It was a season of wonderful spiritual power. 
Those who before had led lives of wickedness and 
drunkenness, worshiping their heathen gods In wild 
dances and feasts, now lived Christian lives of great 
beauty, showing that they had Indeed been transformed 
by the Spirit of God. David Brainerd mentions varl- 

136 



DAVID BRAINERD 

ous evidences of Christian character which might be ob- 
served in them, their temperance, their honesty and jus- 
tice, their decent living and their love of one another. 
At last the little Indian parish moved to a new location 
at Cranberry, intending there to form a little village, 
and here they built a new home for their beloved 
preacher. But the failing health of Brainerd did not 
permit him long to occupy it. In 1746 when he was 
only twenty-eight he returned East for a visit to his 
friends and there proved so feeble that it was impos- 
sible for him to go back. 

Consumption had already nearly completed its con- 
quest over David Brainerd. He had always had a frail 
constitution, and the hardships and trials he had endured 
In the wilderness would have been difficult for even the 
most robust men to withstand. It was too late now for 
him to do anything except arrange and correct the rec- 
ords of his short life, which were to be left as a price- 
less legacy to the world. The last months of his life 
were spent at the home of Jonathan Edwards, where he 
was lovingly nursed and where he died on the ninth of 
October, 1747. 

A large part of his diary, especially that which cov- 
ered his earlier life, he destroyed, but still there is left 
us the record of a great soul, with the story not only 
of his deeds, but also of his temptations, his spiritual 
struggles, his hopes and his victories. It Is the history 
of a soul's climb toward God. This journal Jonathan 

137 



HERO TALES 

Edwards prepared for publication, filling In the breaks 
with his own narrative of Brainerd's life, and not hesi- 
tating to add reflections of his own or words of appre- 
ciation. It is entitled " Brainerd's Life and Diary," 
and Is a great book not only because of Its subject and 
Its author, but because of the Influence It has had upon 
hundreds of people. It Is one of the classics of Con- 
gregational literature. 

Why did David Bralnerd accomplish such mar- 
velous results? At the first glance he seems in some 
ways unfitted for such a work. He was a man, as we 
have already said, of frail constitution, badly equipped 
for the battle with the wilderness. Why was not some 
athletic. Iron-bodied captain of the Lord called in his 
place? 

By temperament, also, he seemed unsuited to meet 
alone the discouragements and long-continued failures 
through which he had to pass. He did not have a san- 
guine nature, but was melancholy and despondent, hav- 
ing hard battles sometimes with his gloomy thoughts 
and downcast moods. Was this the man to be sent 
away from home and all the joys of life to a solitary 
cabin among the savages? 

It even seems to us of this later day as if some of 
his theology might have been a hindrance. The theo- 
logical system which held that a soul must be willing 
even to be damned. If pleasing to God, before it could 
hope to be saved, and whose complete exposition re- 

138 



' -. > ^ .k ^ .y y,^-. -/■ ■- 



DAVID BRAINERD 

quired such brain-rending treatises as those of Edwards, 
seems to us hardly suitable for the simple minds of the 
red men. 

But all these obstacles, if obstacles they were in- 
deed, were more than outweighed by the gifts which 
David Brainerd brought to his ministry. The dedica- 
tion of himself to the service of God was complete. 
Like Paul he could say, " This one thing I do." " I 
cared not where or how I lived, or what hardships 
I went through," he says, " so that I could but gain 
souls to Christ." Home, friends, comforts, important 
pastorates, positions of honor — he turned his back upon 
them all, that he might win souls in the wilderness where 
he believed God had called him. 

Love for God filled his whole life. The holiness 
of the Divine Father, his kindness, his greatness, were 
themes upon which he never tired of meditating. In 
the very beginning of his conversion, he had a remark- 
able experience. As he was walking alone in the thick 
woods one day endeavoring to pray, and feeling very 
sad and disconsolate because of his sinful condition, he 
says, '' Unspeakable glory seemed to open to the view 
and apprehension of my soul. I do not mean any exter- 
nal brightness, for I saw no such thing ; nor do I intend 
any imagination of a body of light, somewhere in the 
third heavens, or anything of that nature; but It was 
a new inward apprehension or view that I had of God^ 
such as I never had before, nor any thing which had the 

139 



HERO TALES 

least resemblance of it. I stood still, wondered, and 
admired! I knew that I never had seen before any- 
thing comparable to it for excellency and beauty ; it was 
widely different from all the conceptions that ever I had 
of God, or things divine. I had no particular apprehen- 
sion of any one person in the Trinity, either the Father, 
the Son, or the Holy Ghost ; but it appeared to be divine 
glory. My soul rejoiced with joy unspeakable, to see 
such a God, such a glorious Divine Being; and I was 
inwardly pleased and satisfied that he should be God 
over all for ever and ever. My soul was so captivated 
and delighted with the excellency, loveliness, greatness, 
and other perfections of God, that I was even swallowed 
up In him ; at least to that degree, that I had no thought 
(as I remember) at firsts about my own salvation, and 
scarce reflected there was such a creature as myself. 
Thus God, I trust, brought me to a hearty disposition 
to exalt hifUy and set him on the throne, and principally 
and ultimately to aim at his honour and glory, as King 
of the universe." ^ 

In this " disposition '* I believe we have the secret 
of David Brainerd's power. The memory of that glori- 
ous vision never faded, but in the radiance of his loving 
adoration of the Most High he lived his life simply 
and nobly among the great forests. 

He himself attributed the work of grace among 

^ Jonathan Edwards' *' Life of David Brainerd,'* included in his 
** Works," 1835, Vol. II, p. 319. 

140 



^^-^'< .MK- At.' 



DAVID BRAINERD 

the Indians wholly to the power of God. " God," he 
says, " is powerfully at work among them ! . . . I 
never saw the work of God appear so independent of 
means as at this time. I discoursed to the people, and 
spoke what, I suppose, had a proper tendency to pro- 
mote convictions; but God's manner of working upon 
them appeared so entirely supernatural^ and above 
means, that I could scarce believe he used me as an 
instrument^ or what I spake as means of carrying on 
his work. . . . God appeared to work entirely alone, 
and I saw no room to attribute any part of this work 
to any created arm." ^ 

It would be difficult satisfactorily to explain Brain- 
erd's work from a merely human standpoint. His own 
explanation is the true one. He was an obedient and 
ready instrument in the hand of God for the accom- 
plishment of his work. He was so completely emptied 
of human ambitions and selfish motives that his charac- 
ter appears scarcely human ; it is too transparently pure 
to be pictured in words, for through his crystal soul 
we can almost catch glimpses of the divine glory which 
he reflected. Through the record of his saintly life we 
learn more concerning the wondrous dealings of God in 
the affairs of men, and by his example, we, too, are led 
to seek after that holiness of which he dreamed. 

* Jonathan Edwards' '^ Life of David Brainerd," included in his 
"Works," 1835, Vol. II, pp. 393, 394. 



141 



XII 

The Second Mayflower 



ON the seventh of April, 1788, there appeared be- 
fore a small fort on the shore of the Ohio 
River, a little barge loaded with pioneers. Its jour- 
ney had not been a very long one. Only a week before 
it had left its building-place on the Youghiogheny 
River, and with its walls made bullet-proof by a lining 
of mattresses and blankets, had floated slowly down 
the river in the spring sunshine, laden with hope and 
promise. A smaller craft designed for use as a ferry- 
boat, with three rough log canoes of various sizes ac- 
companied it — all of them the work of somewhat un- 
skilled builders — but the largest of the fleet bore upon 
its side the name of the Mayflower, in memory of that 
ship which long before had performed so much more 
arduous a journey as it carried a similar body of Pil- 
grims to their pioneer homes upon the shores of a 
strange land. 

Far happier, however, was the lot of this new com- 

142 



f 



L .W 1^ » ■ 



THE SECOND MAYFLOWER 

pany of Pilgrims who had left their homes to found a 
new colony within the lately formed commonwealth. 
No ocean separated them from those they had left be- 
hind, and although the roads had been long and the 
journey hard, only a few miles actually lay between 
them and the safety and comfort of civilized communi- 
ties. The strong arm of the government had already 
preceded them and by its little forts made their coming 
comparatively safe. Steady and frequent additions of 
friends and wealth to their infant colony were to be ex- 
pected. They had found a land of wonderful fertility 
and possible resources, greatly in contrast to the bleak 
shores of Plymouth Bay, and their joyous arrival was 
made in the spring month of April, when everything 
foretold the awakening of the new life of summer, in- 
stead of in those dreary November days which prelude 
the long, cold winter. Joyously they saluted the flag, 
which waved from the summit of Fort Harmar, and set 
foot upon that new territory which they were to trans- 
form into a civilized and religious land. 

They were mostly men of New England, men of 
stalwart build and fair education, well fitted for the 
battle with the wilderness and the Indian tribes which 
roamed about that region. Among the many who came 
in those first few companies were a large number of 
Revolutionary veterans, men who had done faithful 
duty in the late war, and whom a poverty-stricken coun- 
try sought to reward thus by giving them lands instead 

143 



HERO TALES 

of money — a place where they might build homes in 
that large, unsettled northwest territory which had only 
lately come into the hands of the young republic. They 
were men well used to hardships, and not likely to be 
afraid of the possible attacks of Indians after having 
successfully driven away the strength of England's 
army. Good men and well fitted for the task before 
them ! 

What kind of a land was it which met their gaze 
when they first stepped upon Its borders from their little 
boat, the Mayflower? 

It was just at the point where the Muskingum flows 
into the Ohio River, and upon the lower peninsula 
thus formed the fort had been built. The point just 
opposite across the river was the location selected by 
the leaders of the enterprise for the beginnings of a 
city. It was a high and fertile spot, beautifully situ- 
ated, rich of soil, and covered with interesting memo- 
rials of a bygone age. 

Here in some of the unknown years of history 
other people had also chosen to live and labor. There 
upon the site of the new colony were strange mounds 
and earthworks upon which grew great trees, testifying 
to the certain antiquity of those heaps of earth beneath 
their roots. Strange it was that in this country which 
had been regarded as a wilderness. In the heart of a 
new land, where an Infant government had but just 
approved the founding of a colony by its pioneer sol- 

144 



THE SECOND MAYFLOWER 

diers, should be found the ancient works of a people 
whose very existence had been unknown in the pages of 
history ! 

What was the object of these great mounds ? Were 
they for defense or were they places of worship, and 
who were the men who first built them? Over these 
questions the colonists might speculate as they pleased 
while they felled the trees and labored at the building 
of the first rude huts. But no one ever solved the prob- 
lem, and the mound-builders remained as much a mys- 
tery as ever. 

The summer which followed the coming of this 
second Mayflower was filled with extremes of heat and 
cold, of dry and wet weather. At one time there was 
a pest of gnats. Great rains filled the mountain streams 
to overflowing, and the Ohio and the Muskingum were 
swollen with the sudden torrents of water which poured 
into them. The settlers, busy with cutting trees and 
hauling their lumber over the newly cleared lands, were 
parched by the extreme heat, and then chilled by the 
cold days which followed. 

But through all the extremes of this new climate 
they labored busily on, building huts, clearing the space 
for the streets of a town, for its fortifications, and for 
its harvest land. So large a cornfield was planted 
that some who came In the latter part of the summer 
viewed It with wonder and were in great danger of 
being lost if they ventured too far Into its green aisles. 

145 



HERO TALES 

The varying weather proved favorable to the growth 
of the crops, and the seed which the colonists had 
planted brought forth its harvest with amazing ra- 
pidity. 

With the luxuriant crops and the great variety of 
game which the country afforded there was no lack of 
food, and abundant meals were spread in every cabin. 
Bear meat, buffalo, deer and wild turkey, geese and 
ducks were plentiful, while carp, sturgeon and perch 
were found In great numbers In the rivers. There was 
not lacking also a certain old-time courtesy and formal 
social life among the leading members of this newly 
born colony. Arthur St. Clair, who came as Its gov- 
ernor in July, was carefully spoken of as " His Excel- 
lency,'' and " genteel dinners " were served at his home 
to large numbers of guests. There was much friendly 
Intercourse between the officers of Fort Harmar and the 
leaders of the rough little town on the opposite bank, 
and the visiting friends passed back and forth in a barge 
covered by an awning, and rowed by twelve soldiers, 
well trained In that service. 

It was the time of a somewhat ridiculous revival of 
interest in the classics, when long names from the Greek 
and Latin were very much In favor and were used at 
every possible opportunity. Thus we find the newly 
built town boasting a Via Sacra, and also a Campus 
Martius, which was in reality nothing but a rude stock- 
ade enclosing a large public hall and other buildings, 

146 




n 



D 






o 
CO 



s ;;:: 



w 






PS 



. i 



THE SECOND MAYFLOWER 

where the settlers might come for defense in time of 
attack by the Indians. The settlement itself was for 
a season called Adelphia, but later the name of Mari- 
etta was decided upon in memory of Marie Antoinette, 
whose country had done so much to aid the united 
colonists in the Revolution which had just been con- 
cluded. 

It would be difficult to find another colony whose 
task of subduing the frontier was entered upon so easily 
and under such favorable conditions. It Is true that 
the danger of Indian warfare was always present and 
deterred many who would otherwise have joined the 
new colony; but still the compact character of the settle- 
ment, the close neighborhood of the fort, and the 
knowledge that the new enterprise was undertaken with 
the sanction and promised protection of the federal 
government did much to minimize this danger, which 
so many pioneers faced alone with their muskets In less 
favorable parts of the new country. 

But greater than any of the other blessings granted 
to this first Ohio colony, was that of a definite and far- 
sighted policy of government. The document which 
summed up the present and future policy of Congress 
for these territories and states which were to be Is 
known as the Northwest Ordinance and Is deservedly 
famous In our history. 

" It Is not too much to claim," says one author, 
" that the Ordinance of 1787 was the birth of Ameri- 

147 



HERO TALES 

can Nationalism." ^ " Next to the Declaration of In- 
dependence and the Constitution of the United States, 
no early event in American history is more significant 
or far-reaching in its influence than the famous Ordi- 
nance of 1787. The Declaration severed connection 
with the Mother Country. The Constitution laid the 
basis of a new confederation. The Ordinance was the 
beginning of government under the Territorial system. 
It applied specifically to the * Territory Northwest of 
the Ohio River/ including the present States of Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin." ^ 

Under this ordinance a new ideal of colonization 
before unknown in the history of the world, as Presi- 
dent Roosevelt has pointed out In his " Winning of the 
West," ^ was brought into concrete form. Hitherto 
all colonists had been either independent of, or subject 
to, the maternal government. The colonies of Pheni- 
cia and Greece are examples of the former class; those 
of Rome, Spain and Russia of the latter. In the first 
case the freedom of the colonists was secured, but the 
central government remained weak; in the second a 
strong empire was secured at the expense of the inde- 
pendence of a large number of subjects. But here for 
the first time under the Ordinance of 1787 provision 
was made for a colony which was to be forever united 

^ J. B. Clark, "Leavening the Nation,'* p. 48. 

2 Ibid., p. 47. 

' Vol. V, pp. 37-40. 

148 



THE SECOND MAYFLOWER 

with the central government, adding to the strength of 
the whole while existing in perfect equality with all its 
other parts. 

In this new colony provision was made in advance 
for the support of education and religion. The right 
of trial by jury was assured for every criminal. Free- 
dom of worship and religious belief was guaranteed to 
all. The issue of paper money was prohibited. Pro- 
portional legislation was made sure, and it was promised 
that when any of the new territories, to be formed, to 
the number of three, four, or five, out of this great 
Northwest, should contain sixty thousand inhabitants, 
it should be made a state with the full rights of repre- 
sentation which its sister states had already acquired. 

The most important clause of all, however, was 
that which forever prohibited the holding of slaves 
within its borders. Thus was struck the greatest blow 
ever given to slavery until the signing of the emanci- 
pation proclamation by Lincoln in 1863. Without this 
great prohibition in our early history, the winning of 
the great victory for freedom later would have been 
rendered immeasurably more difficult. 

While many men were concerned in the drafting 
and adoption of this famous Ordinance of 1787, a very 
large share of the honor is due to Manasseh Cutler, 
a minister of Ipswich, Massachusetts, who is supposed 
to have written it in outline, following somewhat a pre- 
vious copy which had been made by Jefferson. As the 

149 



HERO TALES 

agent and representative of the Ohio Company of Asso- 
ciates, he had much to do with hastening its final adop- 
tion, as well as with the actual purchase of lands by 
the association of colonists and the practical carrying 
out of the enterprise. 

Manasseh Cutler was a man of very varied talents 
and interests. He was by no means entirely absorbed 
in his work as a pastor and preacher, but was also active 
at different times in his life as a storekeeper, a lawyer, 
a physician, a pioneer, a statesman, a judge and an 
author of various scientific treatises on astronomical, 
medical and botanical subjects. He was a man of prac- 
tical affairs, and nowhere was this more plainly shown 
than In his difficult work of pressing the passage of the 
Northwest Ordinance. However strong may have been 
his personal reasons for desiring its adoption by Con- 
gress, great credit Is due him for his remarkable com- 
prehension of what were its most important features 
both for the colony and the nation, for the diplomacy 
and skill which he showed In reconciling the opposing 
factions of a divided body of legislators, and for the 
practical way In which he carried out the actual pur- 
chase of lands and the starting of the enterprise. 

The story of this Important work reads very 
differently from that of many of the heroes of whose 
lives we have caught glimpses. While some have been 
called to labor in the wilderness, as did Brainerd and 
Eliot, Manasseh Cutler's great task was performed 

150 



THE SECOND MAYFLOWER 

amid far different surroundings. Let us take a glimpse 
of him the first evening after his arrival in Philadel- 
phia on his way to New York as the agent of the Ohio 
company. In the pages of his journal he thus describes 
the tavern where he stayed: 

"It Is kept In an elegant style, and consists of a 
large pile of buildings, with many spacious halls, and 
numerous small apartments, appropriated for lodging 
rooms. As soon as I had Inquired of the barkeeper, 
when I arrived last evening. If I could be furnished 
with lodgings, a livery servant was ordered Immedi- 
ately to attend me, who received my baggage from the 
hostler, and conducted me to the apartment assigned 
by the barkeeper, which was a rather small but very 
handsome chamber, furnished with a rich field bed, 
bureau, table with drawers, a large looking-glass, neat 
chairs, and other furniture. . . . The servant that at- 
tended me was a young, sprightly, well-built black fel- 
low, neatly dressed — ^blue coat, sleeves and cape red, 
and buff waistcoat and breeches, the bosom of his shirt 
ruffled, and hair powdered. After he had brought up 
my baggage and properly deposited it in the chamber, 
he brought two of the latest London magazines and 
laid on the table. I ordered him to call a barber, fur- 
nish me with a bowl of water for washing, and to have 
tea on the table by the time I was dressed." ^ 

^ "Life of Rev. Manasseh Cutler,** by his grandchildren. Vol. I, 
P- 253- 



HERO TALES 

Mr. Cutler was an interested observer of the fash- 
ionable life of the times. Thus he speaks of the break- 
fast hour: " I was surprised to find how early ladies 
in Philadelphia can rise in the morning, and to see them 
at breakfast at half after five, when in Boston they can 
hardly see a breakfast table at nine without falling into 
hysterics. I observed to Mrs. Gerry that it seemed to 
be an early hour for ladies to breakfast. She said she 
always rose early and found it conducive to her 
health." 1 

On the introduction of some young ladies to one of 
his acquaintances he is amazed at the immediate ease 
and sociability of the conversation: 

" What advantages are derived from a finished edu- 
cation and the best of company! " he exclaims. " How 
does it banish that awkward stiffness, so common when 
strangers meet in company! How does it engage the 
most perfect strangers in all the freedom of an easy 
and pleasing sociability, common only to the most inti- 
mate friends ! " ^ 

He is amazed to have Dr. Benjamin Franklin, 
whom he had expected to find surrounded with all the 
pomp and ceremony common to many great men of 
the day, welcome him instead with the greatest cordi- 
ality and simplicity of manner. " But how were my 
ideas changed, when I saw a short, fat, trunched old 

^ ''Life/' Vol. I, p. 255. 
' Ibid., p. 267. 

152 



THE SECOND MAYFLOWER 

man, in a plain Quaker dress, bald pate, and short white 
locks, sitting without his hat under the tree." ^ 

Visits were paid by Mr. Cutler to many important 
public buildings during his journey, and like the true 
lover of knowledge that he was, he examined with in- 
terest collections of paintings, ores, minerals, animals, 
plants, medical apparatus and paintings, skeletons and 
anatomies, mechanical instruments and machines, his- 
torical trophies, fossils and books. All these oppor- 
tunities for acquiring information are mentioned by 
him in his journal with the greatest Interest and en- 
thusiasm. 

After his arrival in New York City, where Con- 
gress was then assembled, his journal becomes full of 
the story of his great undertaking and such social 
events as are mentioned are not fully described, al- 
though it Is plain that he lived and fared In no mean 
manner. 

The Northwest Ordinance had to do with that vast 
tract of territory lying northwest of the Ohio River, 
which included the present states of Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. All this vast region 
had been Included In the claims of seven of the differ- 
ent states — Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, 
Virginia, Georgia, and North and South Carolina. 
Much diplomacy and bargaining had been necessary 
before the last of these claims was finally conceded to 
1 "Life,'* Vol. I, pp. 267, 268. 



HERO TALES 

the federal government, so that it was only a short time 
before this date that Congress had been set free to act 
as owner of this great region. 

The vast territory was regarded as a treasure-house 
by the poverty-stricken government, and it was eager 
to proceed to the sale of lands, but first there must be 
outlined some system by which these new settlements 
were to be governed. A number of ordinances were 
proposed, but never used, and one of these, drafted by 
Jefferson in 1784, contained the important prohibition 
of slavery after the year 1800. But this prohibition 
was a difficult one to procure at that time, and Con- 
gress could not be brought to unite in passing any such 
measure. 

At last, however, a new company of possible set- 
tlers and purchasers of the lands appeared. It had 
been impossible for Congress to pay the debts which 
it owed to the soldiers of the late Revolution. These 
men, worn out by the war, had been compelled to re- 
turn, many of them with their little fortunes wholly 
gone, to the places where their homes had been, only 
to find the conditions which they had left entirely 
changed, and they themselves forced to face all the 
hardships of poverty, without any ready way of secur- 
ing an income. It was proposed that Congress should 
discharge its heavy obligations to these men by giving 
them Instead of money some of the new lands which it 
had secured. Other colonists from New England stood 

154 



THE SECOND MAYFLOWER 

ready to join them by extensive purchases, and thus a 
large settlement In compact form might be made In 
the new region by men preeminently fitted for such an 
undertaking. 

But one thing they Insisted must be settled first, 
and that was the future government of their colony. 
They would not go out to face the dangers and hard- 
ships of founding a new home for themselves and their 
children in the wilderness until they were assured that 
they were to have a government similar to that which 
they were leaving behind and free from the curse of 
slavery. 

Thus Manasseh Cutler, as one of the organizers 
and the representative of this Ohio company, held 
strong Incentives for the careful framing and Imme- 
diate passage of this Important document, and when he 
reached New York he proceeded to throw all his pow- 
ers Into the successful accomplishment of his mission. 
Much of the substance of this ordinance. Including the 
prohibition of slavery, had been already proposed In the 
former drafts by various men, but the final form was 
somewhat changed, and with this last outline Manasseh 
Cutler had much to do. He found a few men 
strongly opposed to his aims, and long and strenuous 
exertions were made to bring them over to his opinions. 
So hopeless did the matter seem that on a Friday morn- 
ing, nine days after his arrival In the city, he was on 
the point of abandoning the task for the time being, 

155 



HERO TALES 

and told his friends that unless his terms were accepted 
that very day he was determined to give up the strug- 
gle, and the company could then turn its attention to 
other unsettled tracts of land. But at half-past three 
he was informed that the ordinance had been passed 
with all the proposed rights, and that the Treasury was 
directed to close the contract with the Ohio company 
for all the land which they desired. 

It was a time of great joy and congratulation for 
the friends of the enterprise. Three months were al- 
lowed to Mr. Cutler for the collection of the first half 
million dollars, and five million acres of land were 
granted by the ordinance. In the following fall, on 
October 27, the indenture was at last signed by which 
the government sold this large tract of land to Manas- 
seh Cutler and Winthrop Sargent, acting for the Ohio 
company; and this enormous business enterprise was 
finally accomplished. 

Far-sighted as Manasseh Cutler and his associates 
doubtless were, It is hardly probable that even they 
realized fully the magnitude of what they had accom- 
plished, or the Importance of the region which had 
thus come Into their possession. They had seized upon 
a part of that territory which was to prove the very 
heart of the new nation, the very center of Its popula- 
tion and political power for many years, and by their 
Influence they had helped to pass the ordinance which 
was to shape Its future. 

156 



THE SECOND MAYFLOWER 

" I doubt," said Daniel Webster, " whether one 
single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has pro- 
duced effects of more distinct, marked and lasting char- 
acter than the Ordinance of 1787."^ And President 
Roosevelt speaks of it from our modern view-point in 
terms of scarcely less praise. " In truth," he says, 
"the Ordinance of 1787 was so wide-reaching In its 
effects, was drawn In accordance with so lofty a morality 
and such far-seeing statesmanship, and was fraught with 
such weal for the nation, that It will ever rank among the 
foremost of American state papers, coming In that little 
group which includes the Declaration of Independence, 
the Constitution, Washington's Farewell Address, and 
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and Second In- 
augural." ^ 

All the great events of the world's history have not 
occurred amid picturesque or unusual surroundings or 
striking conditions; nor do hardships and peculiar self- 
sacrifice invariably attend the labors of our leaders 
along the path of highest duty. It was not Manasseh 
Cutler's part to perform himself the difficult labor of 
the pioneer; he was no mystic, no ascetic, no modern 
martyr, no unusually winsome character, but a shrewd, 
hard-headed man of affairs, who helped to manage suc- 
cessfully a very difficult matter of business. That busl- 

^ As quoted in John Fiske's ** The Critical Period of American 
History." 

2 "Winning of the West/' Vol. V, p. 36. 



HERO TALES 

ness success, however, we have come to recognize as 
one of the vital events in the history of our country. 
That contract helped to determine the future of some 
of our greatest states, and surely the accomplishment 
of such business is a part of the service of the Lord. 



158 



XIII 
A Historic Haystack 



FROM the very beginnings of Congregationalism 
one of Its noblest ambitions and endeavors was 
that of carrying the good news of Jesus Christ to those 
who dwelt In spiritual darkness. Even In those times 
of stress and trial through which the leaders of the 
Separatist movement passed, the spark of missionary 
zeal was aglow, ready to burst out Into a blaze when 
the proper time should come, although many things 
afterward conspired to hinder the hasty spreading of 
this sacred fire. 

Far back In the anxious days before the Separatists 
left Holland this ambition had already begun to stir 
Itself, for William Bradford mentions among other 
reasons for their removal to America the " great hope 
& Inward zeall they had of laying some good founda- 
tion, or at least to make some way thereunto, for ye 
propagating & advancing ye gospell of ye kingdom of 
Christ In those remote parts of ye world; yea, though 

159 



HERO TALES 

they should be but even as stepping-stones unto others 
for ye performing of so great a work." 

As soon as the feeble and struggling condition of 
the Pilgrim and Puritan colonies In New England began 
to be Improved, efforts were made to reach those chil- 
dren of darkness, the Indians, whom they found so near 
them, and Bralnerd and Eliot with many others labored 
faithfully among their benighted neighbors. 

With the growth of the colonies and the opening up 
of new states and western lands, came another press- 
ing call for service. As the older New England settle- 
ments continued to give many of their noblest and best 
citizens toward the forming of these new Middle and 
Western states, there arose the need of sending after 
these pioneer settlers a body of preachers and teachers, 
for the farmers and colonists of these new sections were 
unable for the most part to support these for them- 
selves, as well as forgetful In their hard struggle with 
the wilderness of those higher needs of the soul, so 
difficult was It to obtain even the necessary food and 
clothing. Thus the missionary societies of Massachu- 
setts and Connecticut came into being and pastors were 
sent, sometimes as a loan from various churches, to 
their poorer friends who had left the more thickly set- 
tled portions of New England. 

Some assistance In the missionary work among the 
Indians was afforded by societies both in England and 
Scotland " for propagating the gospel,'* which thus set 

1 60 



^a,assaSiB^ 



A HISTORIC HAYSTACK 

the example of foreign missionary endeavor to our own 
countrymen, but, perhaps largely because of our rapid 
growth and constantly new and varying problems 
at home. New England Congregationalists were not 
swift to follow their lead. The eighteenth century 
came and passed without any definite formulation of a 
foreign missionary enterprise, although the missionary 
spirit was already stirring and alert in the minds and 
souls of many. 

In the early years of the nineteenth century, how- 
ever, the time arrived in the great plans of God for 
such an undertaking on our part. To be sure there 
were still many obstacles in the way — chief among them 
the general apathy of Christian people upon this sub- 
ject and the absorbing interest of important movements 
both in this country and abroad. Still the hour had 
come. Geographical discoveries and increasing naviga- 
tion made it possible to reach many lands hitherto in- 
accessible and unknown; the financial ability of the New 
England churches was increasing ; the way was open and 
the means were at hand, and at last the missionary spark 
which had smouldered so long burst into a glowing 
flame in the breast of one great man — Samuel J. Mills. 

As we look back over what little is known of his 
early life we can see now how God prepared him for 
this mighty enterprise. Like the Samuel of the Old 
Testament, he was consecrated before his birth to the 
service of God, his mother earnestly desiring that he 

i6i 



ifijTini r » >Tiai#i#ifMipi 



mmS^mBmm 



HERO TALES 

might become a missionary, although, as was the case 
with many others of that time, the thought of a more 
distant field than that of the Western states never came 
into her mind. As a boy Samuel J. Mills heard her 
saying, " I have consecrated this child to the service of 
God as a missionary," and often did he hear from her 
lips stories of Brainerd and other missionary leaders. 
All through his youth he was tractable and consci- 
entious, though it was not until he was eighteen that he 
passed through any remarkable religious experience. 
At this age he left his home in Torringford, Connecti- 
cut, to go to study in the neighboring academy in Litch- 
field, and on the journey thither he found Jesus Christ. 
All the world seemed transformed. Everything, even 
the trees and flowers, seemed to him to show forth the 
greatness and goodness of God. He forgot about him- 
self and his journey, and stopped in the woods to wor- 
ship and pray. With the new vision of God and all 
his perfections, came the great purpose of Samuel J. 
Mills' life. From that time forward he was a Chris- 
tian, and Samuel J. Mills could not be a Christian with- 
out becoming also a missionary. All his plans were 
made with this end in view, and he set out at once to 
awaken the hearts of others. His first great opportuni- 
ties came in Williams College, which he entered In 
April, 1806. 

It had been a good hay season, and the Sloan 

162 



wm 



A HISTORIC HAYSTACK 

meadow a little way north of Williams College was 
dotted with haystacks scattered here and there over the 
close-cut grass. A multitude of grasshoppers sprang 
from under foot as now and then a farm-hand crossed 
the wide, hot field, and resumed their long, unending 
chorus when the invader had passed and peace had 
settled once more among the short sun-burned stumps of 
grass. August had come, and for many days now the 
sun had shone down fiercely upon the parched and 
heated world. There was a weariness In the air and 
even the song of the grasshoppers sounded sleepy, 
sweeping on and on with its monotonous chant like a 
lullaby, hushing all the drowsy hay-field into rest. 

A farmer who crossed the field yawned as he lifted 
his wide-brimmed straw hat and wiped the drops of 
sweat from his forehead. It was Saturday afternoon 
and he had worked hard all the week. To-morrow he 
could sit In the shaded church, quiet for an hour at last, 
and If he should doze a little as he tried to listen to 
the good pastor's long sermon, who could wonder after 
his struggle against the languor of the midsummer heat 
and the monotonous chant of the Insects ? 

But In the midst of the drowsiness and the heat that 
Saturday afternoon there came another sound. Low, 
ominous rumblings arose beyond the meadow, and all 
at once, as It seemed, a great black cloud obscured the 
sun and changed the golden glow of the afternoon light 
to a dull and threatening twilight. Louder and more 

163 



HERO TALES 

frequent grew the menacing voices of the clouds, and 
deeper and more wide-spread the gloom. There was a 
mysterious threat in the air and all the world seemed 
to arouse itself from its slumbrous spell and wait 
eagerly, yet fearfully, for the rain. 

A flock of crows flew cawing across the meadow, 
bound perchance for their far-off village of nests among 
the pines, a farm wagon rattled noisily away in the 
distance, the weary horse ready at last to hasten toward 
the familiar shelter of her stall, and then across the 
meadow there came hurrying a group of young men, 
students from the college, it might be, but in any case 
anxious, too, to find shelter from the rain, which was 
already beginning to fall in great, heavy drops. 

Hastily they scooped away a little of the hay and 
crowded in together under the sheltering roof of the 
fragrant grass. There were Rve of them, genuine stu- 
dents, with eager faces full of life and energy. One 
of them, the seeming leader among the group, was 
somewhat of an awkward fellow. His step, as he 
hurried across the field, was unelastic, and his voice, 
as he spoke, unmusical and harsh. His face was sal- 
low and somewhat less lit up with energy than those 
of his companions, but the delicate frame was manly 
and his dress arranged with scrupulous care. Rather 
an unattractive description, it may seem, and yet there 
was something about the serious face of this slow- 
speaking young man which never could be forgotten, 

164 



ymtm/t 



A HISTORIC HAYSTACK 

a something which won him friends and made him a 
leader among those with whom he associated. The 
young man was Samuel J. Mills. 

The great heat had kept In their rooms some of 
those friends who would otherwise have been with him 
on that day, but the names of the four who ventured 
out and took refuge with Mills beneath the haystack 
are preserved for us and for all future history — James 
Richards, Francis L. Robbins, Harvey Loomis, and 
Byram Green. 

Why should a little meeting of five college stu- 
dents be thus handed down to history and fame? At 
first they talked of the countries they had just been 
studying in their college course — of Asia with its vari- 
ous peoples and wonderful history, of Asia the mother 
of the nations, the birthplace of history, of its spiritual 
darkness and Its awful needs. As they talked on one 
after another ventured to speak more freely of the pos- 
sibility of Its redemption, of the hope that they might 
even have some part, however small, In the effort to 
reach out the message of Christ to those far-away, mys- 
terious people. 

It was a vision hour! Who but young men all 
aglow with the enthusiasms and daring dreams of 
youthful strength could have ventured to express or 
entertain such a hope, thus to anticipate an enterprise 
the like of which had never been attempted, the enter- 
prise of winning the world for Christ! But the young 

165 



HERO TALES 

soldier of Jesus Christ may dare to remove mountains, 
and Samuel J. Mills with three at least of his compan- 
ions were " not disobedient unto the heavenly vision." 
Only one, Harvey Loomis, was doubtful, maintaining 
that the hope was premature, the obstacles too great, 
and that the missionaries would only be slaughtered by 
the Turks and others. But Mills exclaimed, *' We can 
do it If we will," and the saying was never forgotten by 
his friends. 

Together they knelt and one after another besought 
God^s blessing upon themselves and their endeavors. 
The last prayer was made by Mills, who asked God to 
" strike down, with the red artillery of heaven, the arm 
that should be raised against a herald of the cross." ^ 
Then the little prayer-meeting was closed with the 
hymn, 

" Let all the heathen writers join 
To form one perfect book ; 
Great God, if once compared with thine, 
How mean their writings look? " * 

The sun was shining once more as the little com- 
pany retraced their way with glad steps back to the 
college campus and their little world of study. Only 
an hour and they were once more In the midst of books 
and student life. But the vision seen beneath the hay- 

^ As quoted in Richards' " Life of Samuel J. Mills." 
^ Ibid., p. 31. 

166 



^1 



A HISTORIC HAYSTACK 

stack never wholly vanished. From the midst of that 
sultry summer hay-field they had looked out with eyes of 
faith and beheld the world, already white and ripened 
for the harvest and they themselves were ready and 
eager to become the reapers. Thus was born the great 
foreign missionary enterprise. To-day a monument 
marks the spot of the haystack of years ago. On the 
shaft are inscribed the words " The Field is the 
World," and upon its summit rests a great round ball, 
the symbol of the earth. 

It is needless to say that this was not the last of the 
prayer-meetings held by that little band of college stu- 
dents. When the weather became too cold to admit of 
outdoor meetings, they came together in a neighbor- 
ing kitchen, the door of which the good woman of the 
house soon began to leave ajar that she, too, might en- 
joy these little hours of prayer. Besides the five already 
mentioned seven or eight others joined the group and 
their Interest Increased Instead of waning. At last, two 
years later, they formed themselves into a little so- 
ciety, which was organized in the lower story of the 
old East College. After the discussion of more ambi- 
tious names they finally chose the simple one " Society 
of Brethren." 

Thus was matured the hope of that memorable 
meeting In the hay-field, and the first foreign mission- 
ary society of America was organized. It differed 
from those which succeeded it In that It purposed, 

167 



HERO TALES 

not to send others to foreign lands, but to send It- 
self In the persons of the different members to the 
field. 

There Is not space here to enter In any detail upon 
the story of Its success. The first growth of the little 
organization was but gradual, the hand-to-hand per- 
sonal winning of new members by those already In the 
group, and partly for this purpose they scattered them- 
selves In various places and colleges. Mills for a short 
time In Yale and later In Andover Seminary continued 
the good work of endeavoring to Interest his friends 
In the enterprise, although much caution was used In 
actually admitting persons to membership. For several 
reasons the society was for some time kept a secret, and 
the records of Its meetings, the constitution and the 
signatures of the members were written in cipher. No 
one was allowed even to read the constitution until 
abundant Information had been gathered regarding his 
character and past life and It was believed by at least 
two of the members that he would sign the document. 
The actual membership of the society was thus kept as 
pure and free from every discordant element as pos- 
sible, and every member held himself ready to respond 
to whatever call of duty might come. 

The arrival of a native Hawaiian In New Haven, 
and his subsequent Christianlzation and education, was 
the means of arousing much Interest In those who had 
the opportunity of knowing him. His conversion and 

i68 






A HISTORIC HAYSTACK 

education proved conclusively that the life of even a 
heathen Hawaiian may be transformed, and through 
their personal Interest In one man many became Inter- 
ested In the great heathen world of which he was so 
noble a representative. 

In 1 8 10 four members of the " Brethren/' — Adoni- 
ram Judson, Jr., Samuel Nott, Jr., Samuel J. Mills 
and Samuel Newell, — presented a paper to the General 
Association of Massachusetts asking for Its advice and 
direction to the end that they might go in person as 
missionaries, and a Board of Commissioners for For- 
eign Missions was appointed by the Association. Not 
long after this the new Board received Its first large 
bequest of thirty thousand dollars, from Mrs. Mary 
Norris, the wife of one of the founders of Andover 
Seminary. Many other gifts followed and In 1812 
most of Mills' friends were sent out under Its care and 
support to foreign fields. 

The growth of the work during the years which 
followed was remarkable. Not a country on the globe 
was overlooked In the watchful planning of the Board, 
and stations and missionaries were rapidly multiplied, 
although the workers were never numerous enough to 
Improve all the opportunities which God opened up 
before them. Long before the century was past those 
very Islands of the Pacific from which the benighted 
Obooklah had come as a representative were sufficiently 
evangelized so that the Board deemed them ready to 

169 



' fclfcTf i<teB>i'irl 'hiiHlg'i I 1' >tvai-tt^ • './ •u.^>»v»<u~a« <k.^.-^«^'< . .>A <^wb ^-v^ 'J. --- 



HERO TALES 

undertake their own support, and they in turn were 
sending missionaries to those about them. 

The work has never ceased. The time of first en- 
thusiasm, and the hope of a speedy victory is past, but 
still the missionaries labor on, one after another tak- 
ing up the message as their predecessors fall, and the 
thick of the battle with the forces of ignorance and 
sin is now upon us. But it will never stop until in 
some future day, far distant it may be, but yet ever 
approaching, the victory shall be won for Christ, and 
the glorious vision of Mills and his friends in that 
Massachusetts hay-field shall have become a wonder- 
ful reality. 

It was never the lot of Samuel J. Mills to go with 
the rest as a worker In foreign lands. Perhaps because 
his advice and clear-sighted initiative were so sorely 
needed in the work of the Board at home, he was de- 
tained here while others went, and doubtless accom- 
plished far more than he could have done by any per- 
sonal hand-to-hand work among a heathen people. We 
can well believe, however, that his retention at home 
was a great disappointment to him, but if so he never 
allowed this feeling to burst out into jealousy or words 
of complaint. 

His work during the few short years which re- 
mained to him was of many sorts. Like the woodsman 
who goes before, blazing a trail along which others may 
follow to clear the path or make the road, he went 

170 



'-.■ U-:^y,:^._ ^.\ ■ ^„ i>,|ir i,,;.,,,, •. f i^fJlfjj- 



A HISTORIC HAYSTACK 

before his Christian brethren, estimating the needs of 
many and the best way In which to help them. 

In 1 8 12 and 1814, each time with a companion, he 
made two long tours through the Middle and Southern 
states, going as far south as New Orleans. Such a 
journey In those days was a great undertaking, and the 
account of it is full of dramatic Interest. " These 
travelers did not telegraph their Intended arrival, nor 
sleep and dine their way to their journey's end, on the 
* Flyer,' and then rest in some palatial hotel at last. 
Each mounted his horse, taking with them by way of 
baggage all that was necessary for the trip, — tent, pro- 
visions, clothing and Bibles. They plodded through 
miry swamps, they climbed up and down almost per- 
pendicular ledges, and cut their way through cane- 
brakes with a hatchet. When they had creeks to cross 
they swam their horses. At night they camped, often 
in the rain and sometimes without food. More than 
once they were serenaded by Indian war-whoops and 
the howling wolves. Stopping at town or settlement 
they were made cordially at home in hut and cabin. In 
some places they perceived bright prospects, the germs 
of future cities, and were often urgently besought to 
stay and preach the gospel permanently." ^ 

Mills found many sections almost destitute of the 
Word of God, and In New Orleans, where he reported 

^ Pamphlet by Elizabeth Stryker, "A Story of One Short Life," 
p. 72. 

171 



HERO TALES 

"that as lately as March, 1815, a Bible in any lan- 
guage could not be found, for sale, or to be given 
away," they obtained the consent of Bishop De Bury, 
himself, to distribute Bibles to the Romanists. Bible 
societies were formed in all the largest places, and Mills 
and his companion preached in every place where they 
paused for a few hours on their journey. 

After their return, several missionaries were sent 
into these destitute places, and Mr. Mills himself had 
much to do with the formation of a national Bible So- 
ciety, the need of which he now thoroughly appreciated. 
The growth of the work of the society has been enor- 
mous. From a single office room it has spread itself 
through an entire block six stories high. From there 
the Bible is sent out in over eighty different languages 
and dialects, and the cost of printing has been so re- 
duced and so far met by gifts that a copy of the entire 
Scriptures can be bought for twenty-five cents. 

After his second return to the North, Mills resided 
in New York, maturing various plans, speaking in many 
places, and explaining the needs of the work to those 
he met. The possibility of establishing a missionary 
station in South America engaged much of his atten- 
tion, and he himself hoped to visit that country to make 
the necessary investigations preliminary to sending men 
thither, but this project was temporarily given up by 
the Board. 

In the meantime, although busied with these mani- 

172 



'^ ,'ti '^•.^•-^■v ^ .^ ,^ ^' f -I IT if -ka if^ cT' ■-^■y^tf 



A HISTORIC HAYSTACK 

fold duties, he became filled with a great Interest In 
the poor of the very city in which he lived. Alone he 
entered upon mission work in New York City, and 
going from house to house, he distributed Bibles and 
carried the message of Christ wherever he could find 
a listener. The spiritual destitution of those city slums 
astonished him, and In many of his Ideas regarding 
the work to be carried on he anticipated the city mission 
workers of the present day. 

The last enterprise which claimed his attention was 
that of founding a colony for liberated slaves on their 
native continent. He had become especially Interested 
In the black people during his journeys through the 
South, and anxious to undertake anything which might 
tend to their betterment, either In this country or in 
the dark land from which they came. When the project 
of establishing a free colony In Africa became possible, 
Mills was selected as the one best fitted to go to the 
west coast of that country and Investigate with a view 
to selecting the best location and obtaining all possible 
knowledge of the conditions which would surround the 
colonists. 

The journey was made, the Information obtained, 
and in company with his companion, the Rev. Ebenezer 
Burgess, Mr. Mills started happily on the homeward 
voyage In the brig Success, well pleased that the dan- 
gers and difficulties of their expedition were so well 
passed. Two weeks went by, part of which time he 

173 



HERO TALES 

spent in arranging and completing the account of v/hat 
they had accomplished, when he contracted a dangerous 
cold, and only a few days later he passed away from 
this world, in the thirty-fifth year of his age. 

The manifold labors of the great missionary leader 
were ended, but the ideals apprehended by him have 
never ceased to beckon men on toward their attainment. 
Let us reread some of the words of his companion on 
that last journey to Africa concerning him: 

" The prominent traits of character which gave him 
such efficiency as a philanthropist were such as these: 
He was sagacious to see what could be done and what 
could not be done. . He embarked in no theoretic or 
Impracticable enterprises. He had a more than ordi- 
nary knowledge of human nature. He did not attempt 
to do himself any work for which he was incompetent, 
but he had the wisdom to solicit the able writer, the 
effective preacher, the noble statesman, the liberal mer- 
chant, to do each his appropriate work; and then he 
was willing that they should enjoy all the reputation of 
it, while he was himself unseen. . . . 

" He lived at the peculiar time when our National 
Societies, in Imitation of the English, must have been 
Instituted, with or without his efficient aid. It would 
be utterly unsafe for any one to attempt to imitate his 
example, except in the wide field of doing good In 
appropriate ways. . . . Few men who were so mod- 
erately appreciated In life, have enjoyed a reputation 

174 



k.2k 



A HISTORIC HAYSTACK 

so just and liberal soon after their death. He was 
great in goodness, and Is entitled to everlasting re- 
membrance." ^ 

Spring In his Memoir says that when the news of 
Mills' death reached America It was felt by his friends 
that '' an armor-bearer had fallen." The title Is an 
apt one. Samuel J. Mills was not permitted, like many 
of his friends, himself to wield the sword of the Spirit 
in foreign lands, but he bore the armor of those beside 
him, well content without selfish honors. If only the 
victory might be won for Jesus Christ. 

^ Rev. Mr. Burgess, as found in Sprague*s <* Annals of the Ameri- 
can Pulpit/' pp. 570, 571. 



175 



XIV 

A Wonderful Camp Meeting 



IT is the first Sunday of July, 1838. Far away on 
the shores of a Pacific island is gathered a great 
multitude of people. The beach, covered with fine 
white sand mixed with coral, stretches in a crescent 
about the beautiful bay, which shines like a sheet of 
glistening silver under the sunlight, while in the dis- 
tance, about a mile from the shore, a coral reef shuts in 
the peaceful harbor from the rougher waters of the 
Pacific. A British whale-ship lies at anchor within the 
quiet bay. 

Between the harbor and the woods the green strip 
of shore-land is covered with little huts. There seem 
to be thousands of them, and on every side, coming 
and going, are brown-skinned natives, lightly clad, and 
many little children running hither and thither from hut 
to hut. Only one or two large houses are visible, two 
barn-shaped structures and one smaller building, evi- 
dently a dwelling. Peace and beauty reign over the 

176 



A WONDERFUL CAMP MEETING 

entire scene. There is little sign of labor and little 
noise. Only one or two groups of men can be seen In 
the distance talking quietly on the shore, but the sound 
of singing In one of the great frame buildings can be 
plainly heard. Now the sound dies away, and again It 
rises louder. The words are strange but the tune is 
easily recognized — " Nearer, My God, to Thee.** 

Those large buildings, rough and unadorned as they 
are, are nothing less than churches — the rude houses of 
worship erected by the half-clad savages who gather 
with curiosity about us. 

Let us follow one of them to the narrow entrance 
of that rough church. Our guide Is a tall and dig- 
nified fellow and he walks with all the majesty of a 
king. We should hardly have liked to meet him alone 
in the high mountains yonder, for his sun-burned skin 
and massive frame tell of his strength, while the spirit 
which glows behind those dark brown eyes has never 
been restrained by any human law. But here within 
the very sound of gospel music we can have no fear. 
This man was the high priest of the threatening vol- 
cano which we hear muttering even now in the distance. 
Among those smoky summits where a red glow mingles 
with the murky cloud, he reigned supreme above his 
fellow men. Many a time has he killed his savage sub- 
jects on the road because they hesitated to pay at once 
the tribute he demanded. Should not a priest of the 
great volcano Kilauea have whatever he wished? But 

177 



HERO TALES 

the great priest, the murderer and robber, is a Chris- 
tian now, and no man fears him any longer, so we can 
follow him in safety up to the rude house of the Lord. 

What a rough structure it is indeed! Its timbers, 
tied with vines and bark of the hibiscus, were hauled 
from the forest three and five miles through mud and 
brush, across streams, up hill and down, to the village. 
Every one has helped, both women and children, in the 
building of this church. Several thousand had a part, 
and in three or four weeks from the time the wood 
began to be hauled, all was ready. 

Seats and floors there are none, but the beaten 
earth has been covered with fresh grass, and the densely 
crowded room seems literally packed with human beings 
seated on the ground. What a crowd it is! Only a 
path is left between the rows of men and women, and 
along these narrow aisles a man is passing with a basin 
of water in his hand from which he sprinkles with a 
brush like an aspersorium the bowed heads of all those 
before him. Past one row and then another he goes, 
slowly and solemnly, and every form is bowed with 
reverent face at his coming. All are silent. A pro- 
found hush is over all this vast assembly. The voices 
of the children outside are quiet now and all is still, so 
that even the gentle footfall of the pastor can be heard 
as he passes on from one group to another. 

At last he has finished, and passing down through 
the vast audience, stands in a little open space at the 

178 



■ ** 4i 



A WONDERFUL CAMP MEETING 

very center of the waiting throng. With bowed head 
and straining ears all listen for the wonderful words: 
^' I baptise you all in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." 

The sunlight falls in through the open door over 
the dusky faces, and all the audience is in tears. All is 
silence for a little, and then in a voice vibrant with 
emotion the pastor explains in simple words the mean- 
ing of the Lord's Supper, and why they, as followers 
of Jesus, should join in this holy service. 

The bread and cup are then passed throughout the 
crowded room, and quietly the great multitude unite in 
this act of remembrance and consecration. On every 
side are faces once dull with Ignorance and disfigured 
with the marks of sin but now lighted up with the glory 
of love and hope. They are a simple people, ignorant 
of nearly everything which the world counts as wisdom, 
and yet they have learned at last the great truth that 
Jesus Christ can save them from sin, and lift them up 
into joy and holiness. Even the high priest of the 
volcano, even robbers and murderers, have come to bow 
in penitence, and here at our very side are waiting, 
transformed and purified, to partake of the symbol of 
Christ's death for them. 

That day one thousand, seven hundred and five per- 
sons were received into the Hilo Church of Hawaii. 
It was the largest accession probably ever made at one 
time In all the history of Congregational missions, and 

179 



HERO TALES 

the day was one worthy of remembrance. It was not 
a hurried or unreasonable harvesting of souls, a whole- 
sale garnering of the ripe with the unripe. Every one 
of those received that day into church-membership had 
been long watched and tested by Titus Coan before the 
list of those who seemed ready was finally finished, and 
the after result showed the wisdom of this step, for very 
few, half savage as they still were, came under any re- 
proach for ill-conduct, or incurred the discipline of the 
church, strict as it was at that time. The field was 
truly ready for the harvest, but great was the honor 
to him who was able to bring it into the storehouse. 

At no other time, perhaps, was there just such an 
opportunity placed before any missionary of the gospel. 
When Titus Coan came to Hawaii in 1835, everything 
seemed ready for his message; the truth had been pro- 
claimed in most of the villages but it had not yet laid 
hold upon the hearts of the people. Schools had been 
established and a large number could read, while the 
grosser practises of idolatry and barbarism had disap- 
peared, at least from common sight. The people were 
kindly, generous and gentle, with a certain docility of 
mind which inclined them to accept the new teaching 
with simple faith like little children. Titus Coan was 
tireless in his preaching, bold of faith and hope, and 
the power of God was with him. The fruits of his 
preaching were immediate and remarkable. When the 
natives began to embrace Christianity In large numbers 

180 



A WONDERFUL CAMP MEETING 

and with certain unusual experiences, some wrote to Mr. 
Coan asking him, "Why don't you put this down?" 
" My answer," he says, " was, ' I didn't get It up ! ' I 
didn't believe the devil would set men to praying, con- 
fessing, and breaking off their sins by righteousness." ^ 

In many of the meetings a wonderful power, hardly 
understood even by the preacher himself, seemed to 
master the audience. " I would rise before the restless, 
noisy crowd," he writes, " and begin. I soon felt that 
I had hold of them and that they would not go away. 
The Spirit hushed them by the truth till they sobbed 
and cried, ' What shall we do ? ' and the noise of the 
weeping silenced the preacher. It was God's truth 
preached simply, and sent home by the Spirit that did 
the work." ^ The people from Kau and Puna, districts 
near by, gathered about the station at Hilo to the num- 
ber of about ten thousand, and there remained for " a 
camp-meeting " of about two years. During this time 
meetings of all sorts were held almost constantly, — 
preaching services, services for men, for women, for the 
children, sewing and cooking classes, and gatherings of 
all sorts. 

In November of this first year, a great volcanic 
wave swept the beach, demolishing the dwellings and 
carrying away many people, but this great catastrophe, 
far from hindering the work, only intensified the anxiety 

^ Pamphlet by Rev. S. J. Humphrey, p. ii. 
^ Ibid., p. lo. 

i8i 



HERO TALES 

of the people to seek Christ, since they knew not at 
what time death might come. Large additions to the 
Hilo Church were received, four hundred and fifty at 
one communion, five hundred and two at another, and 
seven hundred and eighty-six at another, but the largest 
addition was the one of one thousand, seven hundred and 
iive which has just been described. Before its partition 
into separate churches the Hilo Church had received in 
all over twelve thousand persons into membership. 

Titus Coan remained in Hawaii throughout his 
long and vigorous life of eighty-two years, returning 
only once to the United States. He was one of those 
who are privileged to see the result of their labors and 
to rejoice in the success they have achieved. The won- 
derful movements we have sketched so lightly took 
place early in Mr. Coan's life in Hawaii, and they were 
but the beginning of a steady onward movement which 
he never saw flag. Missionaries were sent out from 
the native churches before the end of his life to neigh- 
boring islands, and those who so short a time before 
had dwelt in the darkness of heathendom, now became 
light-bearers to others. 

Titus Coan had always been very fond of children, 
and it was for this reason, perhaps, that he conceived 
the idea of asking the children of the United States to 
contribute their pennies toward the building of a sail- 
ing vessel which might be used by the missionaries in 
their journeys among the Marquesas Islands. This 

182 



A WONDERFUL CAMP MEETING 

little packet was called the Morning Star, and shares 
were sold to the children for ten cents each. The ves- 
sel was duly bought, and reached Hawaii In 1857, 
where It was of great service In the mission work so 
earnestly carried on among the Marquesas Islands. 

The story of Titus Coan's life Is one of the most 
happy among the annals of Christian missions. To 
few heroes is It permitted to gaze as he did. In the early 
years, upon the fruit of his labors, and to watch the 
unceasing growth of the seed which he had sown, ripen- 
ing and maturing with undiminished harvests through 
to the close of a long life. His lot was indeed a happy 
one, and even his death occurred In the midst of a re- 
vival in which he was able to bear a part. 

In one of his first letters home, written to his 
brother George soon after his arrival with his wife in 
Hawaii, he wrote: " We are happy In our union, happy 
in our work and happy In our Redeemer." ^ In this 
sentence we learn the sources of Titus Coan's happi- 
ness, and his joy was never-failing. Happy m all his 
human relationships, observant of and Interested in all 
the wonderful features of his Island home and environ- 
ment, enthusiastic In the doing of every duty, and ever 
rejoicing In the privilege of serving Jesus Christ, he 
passed through his long hfe triumphantly to the still 
greater glories of the life that awaited him. 

* *« Memorial of Rev. Titus Coan,'* p. 39. 

183 



XV 

The Iowa Band 



THE lectures and recitations of the day were 
ended, and darkness had settled down over 
Andover Seminary. From the different windows the 
lights shone out here and there where curtains were 
still drawn aside. One could catch glimpses of warm 
study-rooms, of books close at hand, of happy hours 
of study, or cheerful comradeship, of that blessed stu- 
dent time when love of knowledge is the master pas- 
sion, and the sordid, struggling world with all its anx- 
iety for financial gain, Its anguish, and its wrong is still 
unknown. 

Among the lighted buildings one corner remafned 
in darkness — the seminary library. But here, strangely, 
several students seemed to be gathering. The moon- 
beams falling through the windows lit up their faces 
and showed even with its uncertain light that they had 
come on no frivolous errand. Thoughtful earnestness 
filled every face, and their voices were hushed as they 

184 



THE IOWA BAND 

quietly assembled in a corner among the crowded stacks. 
Soon a prayer was heard in the darkness, then another 
and another. " Where would God have them go to 
work for him? Should they try together to redeem 
some new field in the great West and if so, which one? 
How should they labor? '* 

It was a solemn time, that hour in the darkness and 
the hush of the old library. All around them were the 
books, the world shut out, and God shut in, for pres- 
ent he must have been with those who sought him so 
earnestly. After the prayer came consultation. The 
little group of students were talking of their life-work. 
The suggestion, God-given as we believe, had been 
made by some that they should together seek for pas- 
torates in some Western state or territory, where their 
lives might count for more than among the settled 
churches of the East, and it had become their custom 
every Tuesday evening to meet in the dark library, all 
unknown to the other students, to talk and pray over 
this matter. 

"Where should they go?" Ohio, Michigan, Illi- 
nois and Wisconsin had already been reached by mis- 
sionary pastors. They sought for a new field, one 
where the work was scarcely begun, a difficult place 
where a band of young men like themselves might 
really make an Impress upon the character of the newly 
settled country. At last Iowa was mentioned. Iowa 
— that was a spot with which none of them were in the 

185 



HERO TALES 

least acquainted. It was in what was then the extreme 
West; it was little settled, but it was already a terri- 
tory of the Union. Would God have them go there? 
They began at once to seek for information regarding 
it, and at the close of their seminary year, in 1843, ^ 
little company of twelve were pledged for work in this 
almost unknown field. On the fourth of October, the 
Iowa Band started westward together. What did it 
mean to go as a minister to Iowa in 1843, and why 
have the members of this band earned the right to be 
called heroes? 

First of all they abandoned many things when they 
started on that western journey. It is difficult to-day 
to realize how much they left because scarcely any por- 
tion of our country seems so far away now as Iowa did 
then. It was not possible then to pay a yearly visit 
to the New England homestead. Father and mother, 
and brothers and sisters said " good-bye,'' knowing that 
it must be a long time before they saw the face of the 
young home missionary again. Ministerial friends, 
with all the inspiration and privileges which association 
with these brings, the joy of books, the luxuries and 
comforts — yes, almost the necessaries of home life, — 
all chance of promotion, all love of recognition and 
fame, all these the members of the Iowa Band left be- 
hind them when they started for the great West. They 
were vast sacrifices, each and all. Why did they do it 
and was there any adequate compensation? 

186 



THE IOWA BAND 

It IS easier now than then to see clearly how great 
were the opportunities they hastened to embrace. They 
were opportunities to spend their talents, not opportuni- 
ties to receive great things. Too many of us are seek- 
ing for the latter opportunities, when It is the former 
which after all are the best. Not how much they could 
get in this world, but how much they could accomplish, 
that was the query of those seminary students, and 
they found places In which they could do great things. 

We are all familiar with the story of the rapid 
growth of our Western states. Their civilization and 
cities seem to spring Into being full grown. Their in- 
fancy, their formative period, is the very shortest of 
any in history. How Important that this briefest space 
of time allowed for shaping and fixing the institutions 
of the state should Include among Its leaders some min- 
isters of Jesus Christ I 

Especially was this important In the state of Iowa, 
holding the central and influential position which It does 
upon our map. The natural resources of the state 
predestined it for an Important future. How needful 
it was that the first years of growth should receive the 
Christian impress ! The Iowa Band reached their new 
home just in time to take a part In all this molding 
process, especially of church and college. 

Here were no precedents to follow or to overcome, 
no fixed lines of procedure which must be followed 
either in the forming of churches or the starting of 

187 



HERO TALES 

schools. Full freedom was given for every bit of origi- 
nality or formulative genius which the Band possessed, 
and nobly did they employ this freedom. Their vision 
of the future illumined their planning, and they built 
not for the present but for the generations to come. 

Why are the members of the Iowa Band heroes? 
Because they threw themselves into a most difficult field 
and a most arduous work to attain a most noble end. 
How great and how glorious that end was we are only 
beginning to appreciate. Time alone will reveal the 
true importance of the work which our pioneer heroes 
have done. We are still too near to appreciate their 
achievements. 

What did it mean to go as a minister to Iowa? 
We can only give the beginning of an answer as we 
can give but little glimpses of what these home mis- 
sionaries did after they reached their new home. Let 
us appropriate to ourselves for awhile the magic carpet 
of the " Arabian Nights," and setting back the clock 
for fifty years or so alight here and there just long 
enough to catch a glimpse of some of the things these 
men saw. 

It is Tuesday evening once more, but this time we 
are in the little Western village of Tipton. The vil- 
lage store is lighted up and from the open door comes 
the sound of voices. It is the social center of the com- 
munity, horses are tied before the steps, and two 
friendly pigs grunt around their feet, now and then 

i88 



THE IOWA BAND 

venturing even into the store from whence they are 
driven out by vociferous boys. Every one has deserted 
his crowded, comfortless home for the store and the 
street, this hot July evening. 

From the little lean-to beside the store two men 
come out. They have a friendly word for all around, 
but do not linger among the crowd of loafers. 

" Guess the parson has something on foot to-night,'' 
says the storekeeper as they start off up the street. 
"Who's his friend?" 

" One of those other preachers that came from 
down East," answered a man. " Parson Alden was 
expecting him. Think his name is Adams." 

It is indeed two members of the Band who are thus 
starting off to find a quiet spot where they may hold 
their Tuesday evening prayer-meeting together. The 
little lean-to beside the store is Brother Alden's study, 
but there is small chance for prayer there beside the 
thin board partitions which let in every word of con- 
versation from the crowded store. Where in the new 
town can they find a secluded corner? It is a more 
difficult problem than it was in the old Andover days. 

Here is the jail — a two-story log building empty 
as yet, with the doors unfastened, and an outside stair- 
case leading up to the second story. It is the best 
place which can be found, and there in the upper room, 
illumined only by the moonlight which has now shone 
out over the vast prairie all around, they kneel and ask 

189 



HERO TALES 

God's blessing upon their work and brethren, and this 
new state which they have chosen for their home. It 
Is a very happy meeting, and as they descend to the 
street once more Ebenezer Alden looks up at the rude 
little jail above him with a glowing face. 

" There," he says, " I guess that's the first time that 
old building ever had a prayer In It." 

We must leave them to find their way back to the 
lean-to beside the store while we fly on just a little 
across the border of the state, this time to a revival 
scene. Where are we going? That Is a saloon right 
here In the room next to the one we are entering. 

Yes, it Is all owned by the same proprietor, and 
this room where the meeting is now going on is com- 
monly used as a ninepin alley. You would hardly 
guess It to-day, for with the rough board seats arranged 
across it from end to end it has quite taken on the ap- 
pearance of a hall now that It Is filled with people, but 
if you look sharply in the corner behind the speaker's 
table you will see the ninepins and balls piled up out 
of the way. 

How was such a queer place chosen? Well, it was 
the only place in the good-sized village large enough to 
accommodate the people in a protracted series of meet- 
ings. The two preachers were at a loss where to go, 
when the proprietor of the alley, in which he was earn- 
ing at the time ten dollars a day, offered it voluntarily, 
free of charge, for as long as it might be needed. 

190 



THE IOWA BAND 

The meeting is a solemn one, and many come for- 
ward to confess Christ before its close. That young 
man who is speaking is an earnest fellow. He is the 
son of the owner of the alley, and has decided since 
these meetings began to try to follow Christ. 

The sound of the toddy-stick and of loud talking 
in the next room can be plainly heard, for the wall is 
thin, but nothing distracts the attention of the audience 
from those who are testifying to their new faith. It 
is now more than two weeks since the first service was 
held, and to-morrow a church will be organized in the 
little town. Its first page will bear the record, " Or- 
ganized on day of , in Mr. 's nine- 
pin alley.'' 

Are you too weary to attend another meeting ? We 
ought not to be, for our mode of travel is swift com- 
pared with that of most of those who have been coming 
for days across the prairies to this gathering. One pas- 
tor tells us he has walked on foot two hundred miles to 
attend such a meeting. 

It is the day for the Association. Just how much 
that means, it is hard for us whose homes are in the 
East to understand. It means that to-day friends 
dearer than brothers are to meet after a year's sepa- 
ration; they are to talk over the common work which 
they have undertaken, to share one another's joys and 
sorrows, to look into one another's eyes and see there 
reflected the same steady determination which burns in 

191 



HERO TALES 

their own hearts. It is the purpose to bring to pass the 
kingdom of God in Iowa, a purpose whose greatness 
and power they have never doubted but which flames 
up anew into a brighter glow when it is seen reflected 
in another's face. 

It has been no easy journey to the Association meet- 
ing, fording streams, crossing prairies, riding horse- 
back, or jolting along in a comfortless buggy for days, 
but all are now well rewarded, and the attendance is 
more complete than in some better settled districts. 
The company here in the little church is a large one. 
It is the middle of the forenoon, the hour of the day 
set apart for the prayer-meeting, and as we listen to 
prayer and testimony we do not wonder that it is in- 
deed good to be here, for it is the desire for the bless- 
ing of God's presence, which more than anything else 
has brought these men together, and the gift sought 
thus earnestly must be obtained. At the close of the 
meeting, while hand clasps hand the old hymn is sung, 
" My days are gliding swiftly by." This is always the 
closing hymn of the prayer-meeting, and now the entire 
assembly turns with whole-hearted earnestness to the 
business of the Association. The questions of slavery 
and of Sabbath-breaking are to be discussed this morn- 
ing, but perhaps we had better slip out here as our vote 
will not be counted. 

The little village is full of people, for the wives 
and children have come as well as the ministers them- 

192 



THE IOWA BAND 

selves, so that, taken all together, it Is a large company 
for the town to entertain. What Is this big farm wagon 
rumbling past? It is filled with straw, but a young 
woman Is driving, and another woman beside her is 
laughing and talking as though some great joke were 
in progress. Have they anything to do with the Asso- 
ciation? 

Yes, to be sure, that is the minister's wife. There 
are not beds enough for all, so numerous have been the 
arrivals, and so while the morning session has been In 
progress, the young bride, fresh only a short time be- 
fore from the comforts of her Eastern home, has started 
out In search of bedding. The young wife of another 
missionary is with her, and there are more women await- 
ing them at the door of the parsonage. They have been 
clearing the floors of the bedrooms, the parlor and the 
entry, during their hostess' absence and now every avail- 
able spot is covered with straw beds. 

It Is a festival occasion. Who could think of 
hardships amid jollity and friendship like this? If 
It could only have been Association meeting all the 
time! 

But life is not made up of holidays, least of all the 
life of a home missionary. It Is a wintry day as we 
enter the little cabin home of one of our faithful pas- 
tors. Here are few comforts — no luxuries. A pine 
box has been made into a dish-cupboard there beside 
the little stove, other boxes have been converted Into 

193 



HERO TALES 

chairs, and the table Is only a rude contrivance, evidently 
made by the pastor's own hand. 

The busy wife of the missionary Is making over a 
dress for Ellen out of one of her older sister's outgrown 
gowns, and her brow wrinkles with anxiety as she sews 
and watches little Tommy creeping about from chair to 
chair. Those are not spiritual themes which fill her 
mind just now but thoughts of how the meager salary 
Is to be stretched a little farther so as to Include the 
food and necessary clothing for these bleak winter 
months. How can a bed be made for Tommy? He 
has outgrown his cradle, and the boxes have all been 
used. Perhaps father can get another at the village. 
Poor father! He has to be farmer and carpenter as 
well as preacher. A student he can be no longer except 
of the Bible and the great book of human nature, for 
a new volume never enters his library and the old ones 
were almost read out of their covers long ago. 

Here Is father now driving Into the yard. He has 
been conducting a funeral In a village ten miles away. 
But what has he there In his team ? A barrel ! It must 
be those long-looked- for gifts from the friends at home. 
How eagerly the family gathers around to see what Is 
within and how they exclaim as one after another the 
treasures are unwrapped! Shoes for Ellen and Eliza- 
beth, new dresses for the baby, a black dress for mother, 
an overcoat for father, a new table-cloth, and best of 
all, some books! It Is a day long to be remembered, 

194 



THE IOWA BAND 

that winter day which opened so bleakly, and with over- 
flowing hearts they join in father's prayer of thanks as 
they sit down around the rough little table for dinner. 
If only the workers in the little church vestry at home 
could see what rejoicing their labors have brought ! 

We can stop but for one more scene. It is another 
red-letter day in the calendar of the Iowa Band. From 
all the little towns about wagons are gathering, while 
many have ridden in on horseback or walked on foot 
from their homes out yonder on the prairie. The little 
company of Christians have been struggling here for a 
long time to obtain a house of worship. Many are the 
self-denials each one has undergone in order to place a 
few dollars in the hand of the missionary to be used for 
the new church edifice. 

A large part of it has been erected by his own 
labors. He has been pastor, business manager, archi- 
tect, mason and carpenter all in one, and the rude little 
hut bears many traces of unskilled workmanship. It 
has but six plain windows and one door, and the chim- 
ney has been finished a little askew. Tower, bell, 
organ, carpet, pulpit? No, indeed, none of these 
things are included. A real store table fills the place 
of the pulpit, a haircloth chair has been donated for 
the preacher, and best of all, here is the old communion 
set sent from the home church in the East to its beloved 
missionary child. The pews are bare of cushions, but 
not empty of occupants. To-day at least every seat is 

195 



— iJJ 



HERO TALES 

full, for the minister is known even by the unbelievers 
as a " right good fellow," and they have all come in to 
listen to the dedication service. 

It is a humble beginning, to be sure, but from be- 
ginnings such as this wonderful results have sprung up. 
The first church in the new state was organized at 
Davenport in 1838, and here the members of the Iowa 
Band were ordained when they came to their field of 
labor, only five years later. It consisted of but thirty- 
two members, and Rev. Asa Turner (Father Turner, 
as all the home missionaries called him) was the first 
pastor. In 1842, just a year before the Iowa Band 
came, the number of churches in the territory, including 
all denominations, was estimated at forty-two and the 
number of professing Christians as about twenty-one 
hundred. What do we now find in the Congregational 
Church alone? Three hundred and twenty churches, 
with over thirty-six thousand members. 

Of course the influence of the Iowa Band upon 
most of the churches in Iowa has not been a direct one, 
but nevertheless it would be only a very superficial ob- 
server who would turn away from a survey of their life- 
work thinking that its results are to be seen only in the 
churches which they themselves actually helped to or- 
ganize. Their work has helped to mold the character 
of the entire state. When they came to this thinly 
settled territory they found all the religious life of the 
communities in an unformed, plastic condition. They 

196 



THE IOWA BAND 

were the men who helped to establish religious prece- 
dents in the state. 

The Tuesday evening prayer-meeting is one illus- 
tration of this. After the Band came to Iowa they 
naturally remembered the many meetings they had held 
together in the old seminary library and, separated 
though they were, for old association's sake continued 
to observe Tuesday evening as a time of prayer for 
themselves and their brethren. Many of the other 
ministers followed their example, and in one meeting 
of the General Association it was voted that this night 
be generally observed. Of course it could not be ex- 
pected that all the churches of Iowa would adopt the 
suggestion, but it has become a general custom to do so. 

In many ways the Iowa Band builded for the future. 
The General Congregational Association of Iowa was 
organized with only three churches enrolled in 1840, 
three years before the Band came to Iowa. In 1844 
minor associations were formed and the methods of 
procedure of the Association determined upon. In this 
work of organization the Band had an active part, and 
through this association of ministers they helped to in- 
fluence the entire life of the state. Questions such as 
intemperance, slavery, the Mexican War, the Rebellion, 
and the observance of the Sabbath, were freely discussed 
at these meetings and at least one movement of national 
importance, that which led to the Congregational 
Church Building Society, was first begun here, 

197 



11 ■! ^ M 'Himii 



HERO TALES 

To this body of home missionary pastors does Iowa 
College owe its origin, but the story of that institution 
of learning would require an entire chapter. To make 
a higher education possible in the new state was one of 
the dearest aims of the Iowa Band and their ministerial 
brethren. A large proportion of their labor, time, and 
strength went to the founding of this college, for they 
believed that religion and education must go hand in 
hand if this new territory was to become a worthy part 
of the great republic. The founding of Iowa College, 
no less than the establishing of many churches, must 
be counted among the great achievements of the Iowa 
Band. 

But most important of all were those results which 
cannot be summed up in words, results wrought by the 
power of Christian heroism and Christian bravery. 
The changing of many lives through the personal influ- 
ence of the Band, and the leavening and transforming 
of the rough, crude life of that Western territory by the 
leaven of a truly religious and truly cultured living — 
the forces which accomplished this can never be accu- 
rately estimated. The members of the Iowa Band 
never became the less men of refinement because they 
had left behind them the luxuries and privileges of the 
East, but in that Western land they added power and 
simplicity to their learning until they were indeed true 
heroes able to mold a state for righteousness and God. 
They were " the salt " of Iowa. 

198 



XVI 



How Cyrus Hamlin Baked Bread 
for an Army 



THE native evangelical Christians around Con- 
stantinople about the year 1844 were in a piti- 
able condition. Turks and Russians, Armenians and 
Greeks, Mohammedans and Catholics — every one re- 
garded them with suspicion and dislike. In 1837 the 
great anathema had been pronounced upon them and 
those who did not recant were ruined, as far as all 
worldly prospects were concerned. All who owed them 
money were released from the debt, while at the same 
time all the creditors of these unfortunate people were 
required to demand payment. Their guild papers were 
taken from them, and all persons were forbidden to 
trade or transact any business with them. Most of them 
were driven out from their homes and places of busi- 
ness into the street, and as the final outcome of all this 
persecution a large number came at last to be thrown 
into prison, where they underwent much suffering. 

199 



HERO TALES 

It was impossible for most of them to work under 
these circumstances, however desirous they were of 
earning an honest livehhood, and idleness, beggary and 
unwise charity were fast reducing these followers of the 
new Christianity to a pitiable state. The firman issued 
in 1847 under the influence of the British ambassadors 
restored to them the rights of citizens, but the mischief 
which had been done was too vast to be righted within 
a moment. Bankrupt, dishonored and discouraged, — 
it was impossible for the Evangelical Christians to 
disentangle themselves from their mesh of troubles. 
A single man alone may wrest from the wilderness the 
means of existence. Shut off from all intercourse with 
his fellow men and from the mutual labor and help of 
society he must perish in the midst of civilization. 

The mission station of the Congregationalists at 
Constantinople failed to meet the demands of this dif- 
ficult situation. Many of the young men, thus thrown 
out of employment, came to the mission school and, 
ragged and barefoot, used for study the time which 
they were unable to pass in any other way. The stu- 
dents appeared like beggars; the missionaries were 
scandalized and puzzled. They had come to teach and 
to preach and to convert, not to solve such secular 
problems, and here their native parishes were thrown 
into poverty and disorder. 

But one man proved equal to the occasion. That 
man was Cyrus Hamlin, at the time In charge of 

200 



CYRUS HAMLIN 

Bebek Seminary and Its ragged students, one of the 
most remarkable men our denomination has known. 
He was the son of a Maine farmer, and Included In his 
qualifications for a missionary, not simply a scholarly 
training in both college and seminary and a most glow- 
ing and self-sacrificing love for God and his fellow 
men, but also rare gifts for mechanical and manual 
labor, together with the quick wit and tact of a diplo- 
matist and politician, and the far-sighted, practical 
wisdom of a business leader. He was a man developed 
mentally In every direction, a '* Jack of all trades," but 
more than that, a seeming specialist In each. A won- 
derful man In this age when division of labor has ren- 
dered an " all around training " almost an Impossi- 
bility ! Cyrus Hamlin had been a pastor, a missionary, 
a teacher. He now became an organizer of industries. 
The situation which he faced was a difficult one. 
Not only must he guide and control a company of men 
whose business talents were largely unproved by him, 
but he must discover fields of labor wholly unoccupied 
hitherto, or persecution and the guilds together would 
render their Industry useless. No capital was In his 
hands for the beginning of his enterprise, no friendly 
community In which to carry them forward; he must 
expect criticism from those with whom he was associ- 
ated and from those friends he had left behind In far- 
off America, for he was launching forth upon a new 
sea of missionary labor — as many believed, a sea In 

201 



b^iMUMih 



HERO TALES 

which he had no right to sail. All things seemed 
against him, but, as he believed, the necessity of relief 
justified his endeavors. As results proved, he was capa- 
ble of mastering the obstacles which confronted him. 

Many industries were tried. The money for his 
first workshop, which was an annex to the seminary, 
was contributed by some English workmen who had 
been sent to the country to start certain great mills under 
the control of the government. They contributed forty 
pounds, the sum which Mr. Hamlin thought necessary 
for the enterprise, and the first industry was started by 
the needy students for the purpose of obtaining money 
for clothing. 

The work was mostly upon sheet-iron stoves and 
stovepipe, articles which were just beginning to be used 
at that time, but ash-pans, bakers, fire-shovels, and other 
simple things were also made. The houses about Con- 
stantinople had no chimneys, and so it was necessary 
to prolong the stovepipe far enough outside of the 
house to produce a draught, and the demand for stove- 
pipe and for students to set it up was great. 

One simple employment which furnished work for 
several men was the making of rat-traps. A member 
of the evangelical community, a cutler, had become 
mentally unbalanced by the weight of his misfortunes, 
and imagining himself to be stone would remain mo- 
tionless for a long time without even winking. Cyrus 
Hamlin had just received a new rat-trap from Boston. 

202 



.J*^^,uiJLJj:^-A.-^.c:L^-'-.M\^Jij^^:*i^ii»>^^ ' t * ^ » ii» t*s la a r i » t tumm ti r i Mf .,:tm 



CYRUS HAMLIN 

He sent for the unfortunate cutler and said to him, 
*' If there are thirteen hundred thousand inhabitants In 
Constantinople, there are thirteen hundred millions of 
rats. Go to ! make rat-traps, and live.'' ^ At first the 
plan seemed visionary to the cutler Hovesep, but he 
finally undertook the occupation and at last work was 
provided for eight persons In the rat-trap factory. 

Many other unoccupied or uncrowded fields of labor 
were discovered by Cyrus Hamlin. One man supported 
his family a year or more by manufacturing camphene, 
and bookbinding, printing and other Industries were 
tried with some degree of success. Later on one of the 
most successful was the homely work of washing, but 
the history of that would require a story all to itself. 

But all these early attempts were not sufficient. A 
few cases of destitution had been relieved, but many 
others remained. What large industry could be started 
in the face of such opposition and without capital? 

One opportunity had often occurred to Cyrus Ham- 
lin, and at last the way seemed clear by which he could 
seize upon it for the benefit of his fellow Christians. 
The market of Constantinople was filled with the finest 
wheat of the world; the population was thirteen hun- 
dred thousand, the guild of the bakers and millers was 
one of the largest and strongest in the city; but all the 
grinding for this vast industry was done by horse-power. 
A steam mill could compete with such labor at an 
^ *« My Life and Times," by Cyrus Hamlin, p. 293. 

203 



HERO TALES 

enormous advantage, if only its owners could obtain a 
place in the ranks of competitors. By simple accident 
Cyrus Hamlin discovered one day that one of the very 
early privileges allowed to a foreign colony settling in 
Constantinople was " the right to its own mill and 
bakery free from interference from the guilds." There 
was no way in which the recognition and confirming 
of this privilege could be avoided by the government 
save by procrastination, but in this art the Turks were 
adepts. 

The firman was promised Immediately by the min- 
ister of foreign affairs, but as soon as the project became 
known, all the bakers in the city united against it. 
Trusting in the promise of the Turkish minister, Cyrus 
Hamlin began his building operations, but It was not 
long before an officer appeared with orders to arrest all 
the workmen and bring them to police headquarters. 

About twelve of the students of the seminary were 
hard at work and the head workman and one or two 
others whom the officer especially sought were safely 
hid when he appeared. Cyrus Hamlin tells the story 
thus: 

"Where Is Demetrl Calfa?" 

" He Is not here, sir." 

" Who is the calf a (head workman) of these 
works?" 

" I am, sir. They are my works." 

" Are you an architect? " 

204 



^ 1^ r^^::^j^^.^t-rr f ^ i<T- trwt an irrrti^ 



CYRUS HAMLIN 

" I am an American, the nazir of this school, and 
architect enough for these works." 

Straightening himself up, he cried : " Paidose, 
paidose! I make paidose (Interdict) upon these works. 
Here, every one of you, come with me to the Porte." 

" Go to work, boys," I said; and turning to him I 
told him they were all my scholars, and that he could 
not touch them ; they belonged to no esnaf or guild. 

The wag In the attic. In the meantime, had leaned 
out of the window to hear what was going on below. 
The constable happened to look up and see him. 

" Come down here, you jackass (eshek). Now I 
have caught an isnafgi^ 

" Oh, no ! " said the wag; " I am one of Mr. Ham- 
lin's scholars." 

" You a scholar! Let me hear you read." 

" Very well, sir, I will read." 

And finding a Turkish Testament up there where 
the man slept, he put on a pair of huge spectacles, and 
bowing back and forth just like a Turkish softa, he 
began to read with sonorous voice, the New Testament. 

" Yeteshir, yeteshir (it's enough, it's enough)," said 
the constable, while the boys were ready to burst. ^ 

Cyrus Hamlin now Insisted that the rights of the 
treaty had been broken long enough, as the constable 
had In reality no right to enter the house of an Ameri- 
can, unless accompanied by an officer of the embassy, 
* «« My Life and Times," by Cyrus Hamlin, pp. 302, 303. 

205 



HERO TALES 

and the constable soon found himself without the walls. 
The Turkish government was now placed In a dilemma. 
It must either proceed with Its arrest and break the 
promise given or grant the firman. The firman was 
given the following afternoon. It Is difficult for us 
who live and work In the freedom of the American 
States to understand how large a place the restrictions 
and legal red tape of the government occupied In the 
difficulties Mr. Hamlin had to overcome. As we read 
the story of his life we are more and more Impressed by 
his skill In cutting the Gordlan knots which restricted his 
efforts In every direction. 

How was the money for this new enterprise ob- 
tained? Six hundred dollars was advanced by Mr. 
John Tappan of Boston, a member of the Prudential 
Committee of the American Board, for the purchase of 
millstones, bolts, duster, etc. Mr. Charles Ede, an 
English banker and friend of Mr. Hamlin, stood be- 
hind the enterprise, ready to advance all necessary 
money upon the security of the plant, and through him 
a small steam-engine of six horse-power was ordered. 

No drawings came with the engine and mill, and 
all the Ingenuity and skill of Mr. Hamlin were required 
to set them up. But most perplexing of all, the steam- 
pipe proved to be too short by eight or nine Inches. 
What was the missionary man of business to do ? He 
must do his own casting as well as be his own mechanic 
and carpenter, and using a little furnace which he had 

206 






CYRUS HAMLIN 

built for trying ores, he set to work. Sand suitable for 
the molds was found by some of the students, and a 
large semi-globe of iron which had been the balance 
weight of an old boat was broken up by the students 
with a heavy sledge-hammer. The first attempt at 
casting was a failure, and there was an explosion like 
Ehe firing of a cannon. " I committed three blunders,'* 
says Cyrus Hamlin. " I did not dry the sand mold 
enough; I did not make escape ways for gases and 
steam large enough; and I made the melted iron too 
hot." ^ How many professors or missionaries would 
have made the attempt at all ! The second trial proved 
successful and the missing pipe was obtained. 

The machinery was set up and at last all was ready 
for the bread-making. Cyrus Hamlin had read up the 
subject thoroughly but his first batch of bread was an 
utter failure. It was flat and sour. With perseverance, 
however, better results were obtained and after a 
kurekgi — a man to take charge of the heating of the 
oven, and the baking — was obtained, the bread was a 
perfect success. 

At last the mill and bakery were fully under way, 
and good bread was being made. The problem which 
must now be solved was how to obtain customers. The 
people, of course, were all patronizing the bakeshops 
of the guild, and many stories were being told about 
this new bread, manufactured, so the tales ran, by the 
* " My Life and Times," by Cyrus Hamlin, p. 309. 

207 




HERO TALES 

art of Satan, and capable of bewitching any who should 
be so foolish as to partake of It. One thing was favor- 
able. Every one was anxious to try this new bread, so 
curiously and fearfully made, and each one after buy- 
ing a loaf hurried off with It to the grocer's to find out 
from his scales whether it weighed as much as was re- 
quired by law. 

All this had been foreseen by Hamlin and he had 
directed his men to make each loaf over weight. " We 
have only to make good bread," said he, " and about as 
much above the legal weight as these lying bakers make 
it below, and we shall see If the people will not buy 
it." ^ This system of generous weight was continued, 
and the result was just what had been foreseen. The 
people were pleased with the bargain, with the extra 
weight and the good quality, and the new bakery in 
two months had secured as many customers as It could 
supply. Flour and farina, as well as bread, were sold, 
and the whole enterprise proved a great financial suc- 
cess. At the end of one year one-half of the capital 
loaned by Mr. Ede was repaid together with eight per 
cent on Its use. 

As for the primary object of the enterprise, the re- 
lief of the destitute, that too was obtained. Work was 
furnished for all who needed It, either In the mill, the 
bakery, or the distribution of the bread. Those who 
did not wish to work had no longer any pretext for ob- 
^ *' My Life and Times," by Cyrus Hamlin, p. 312. 

208 



CYRUS HAMLIN 

talning alms, and the industrious were well cared for. 
The men as a whole proved to be fine workers, surpris- 
ing Mr. Hamlin by their ingenuity, quickness and en- 
terprise. They knew that the proceeds of the business 
after all debts were paid would be theirs, and all were 
eager to make it a success. 

It was now decided to try the experiment of making 
yeast bread. All the bread made by the natives in Con- 
stantinople has a sour taste. Cyrus Hamlin's daughter, 
Henrietta, made the hop yeast and had charge of this 
bread at first, but later an American happened along 
who had been a baker and this part of the business was 
turned over to him. After a short time a German 
brewer was discovered who had a yeast superior to that 
made with the hops, and the new yeast from the beer 
factory was used instead, from which the bread came to 
be called *' bira bread." 

The new industry was now well started and its 
different branches divided among efficient workers, so 
that Cyrus Hamlin thought that he could soon throw 
off all care concerning it. But it was not to be so. 

War had broken out between England and Russia, 
and the English troops began to arrive in Constanti- 
nople. A hospital was established and it was not long 
before its wards were filled with the sick and dying. 
Whatever the merits of the war, the condition of the 
soldiers in the English hospital at Scutari was such as to 
arouse ardent pity. At one time there were not less 

209 



HERO TALES 

than six thousand patients, and the nursing and medical 
corps were wholly Inadequate to the demands upon 
them. Neglect and suffering were to be seen every- 
where. 

The most crying need was for night nurses. At ten 
o'clock the lights were put out and the suffering and 
dying patients were left to themselves until morning. 
The death rate was a terrible one, and the burials were 
made at night In order that the number might not be 
known. It was not long before the " bira bread " manu- 
factured by the missionary bakeshop came to the notice 
of Dr. Mapleton, who had charge of organizing the 
hospital. He Immediately sent for Mr. Hamlin, the 
baker, not understanding that the man of business was 
a Congregational missionary. After a somewhat com- 
ical Interview with Dr. Mapleton owing to this mis- 
understanding, a contract was entered upon with Com- 
missary General Smith, by which the hospital was to 
be supplied with bread from the new bakery. 

One hundred and fifty-one pound loaves each day 
was the number required at the beginning, but this 
amount was increased as the war went on. The work 
had all been so thoroughly organized before, that this 
vast Increase brought but little additional care to Mr. 
Hamlin, except the purchasing of the flour, which re- 
quired great caution. 

After the work had assumed these large propor- 
tions, an effort was made to Induce Mr. Hamlin to pay 

2IO 







John Robinson's House, Leyden, Holland 



•^ — - ~ >l ■■ >1 !.^ 



CYRUS HAMLIN 

over a part of his profits as graft to the second purveyor 
and the doctor In charge, it being intimated by these 
men that It would not be well for him to refuse. Before 
long Mr. Hamlin realized the force of these intima- 
tions, for a conspiracy was formed against his bread, 
and various attempts were made to lead to its condem- 
nation. Some of it was secretly heated until it became 
sour, and again counterfeit bread was put in its place. 
But the conspirators made blunders and the attempts 
at fraud were too plain to be concealed. Cyrus Hamlin 
threw up his contract, but was not compelled to pay the 
penalty for its forfeiture. After a new competition and 
the failure of a rival because of the Increased price of 
flour, Mr. Hamlin undertook the work anew, this time 
without any trouble. The arrival of Florence Night- 
ingale and her trained assistants about this very time 
transformed the hospital, and the conditions there be- 
came better in every way. 

This victory for the right, however, is not the end 
of the story. Cyrus Hamlin was requested to supply 
bread also for the entire camp and navy located at Con- 
stantinople. It was an enormous task. The camp 
varied from six to ten thousand men, and the amount 
of bread required from eight to twenty thousand 
pounds a day. 

At first It seemed to Cyrus Hamlin that It would 
be impossible to accomplish so much. He had only 
two small ovens which were already used to their ut- 

211 



HERO TALES 

most capacity, and for such an undertaking at least two 
more would be required. Commissary General Smith, 
however, insisted that he should comply. Whatever the 
expense, he wished him to get ready to take the contract 
as soon as it was in any way possible. Mr. Hamlin was 
sure that at least a month would be required to build the 
large ovens and storage buildings necessary. 

After leaving General Smith, however, It occurred 
to him that some great barracks formerly erected at 
Scutari must have had a bakery, and he went to the 
place on a tour of discovery. To his surprise and de- 
light he found the old bakery Itself! To be sure the 
building was half ruined, and the arch of one of the 
great ovens had fallen In, but It was still in a condition 
where speedy repairs were possible. 

After making a reasonable contract with the pro- 
prietor, workmen were hastily secured and the work of 
repair begun. Within three days all was made ready 
for the first fire, and before seven days were up Cyrus 
Hamlin reported to the commissary general that his 
bakeshops w^ere ready, his force organized, and he was 
prepared to begin supplying the bread as requested. 

Let us read a little of the story in Dr. Hamlin's 
own words : " The first delivery of the bread was quite 
dramatic, or at least it was quite interesting. The camp 
had notice that new bread would be served at nine 
o'clock In the morning. A train of commissary carts 
having eight thousand loaves of most excellent bread 

212 



■^ -' - -■_ 



CYRUS HAMLIN 

approached the camp, and a long line of men with large, 
square baskets were ready to receive and distribute. 
The first loaves were seized, examined, smelt of, then 
hurled high into the air with ' Hooray for good Eng- 
lish bread ! ^ It gave immense satisfaction." ^ 

One thing about which Mr. Hamlin was very firm 
was the observance of the Sabbath. He had delivered 
a double supply of bread every Saturday for the use of 
the hospital, making the Sunday delivery unnecessary, 
and it was understood that the same arrangement was 
to be carried out in supplying the army camp. 

The provost of the camp, however, was angered by 
the refusal to deliver bread on Sunday, and when Mr. 
Hamlin, anticipating trouble, went before the delivery 
teams on the first Saturday evening to the camp, he was 
met by a number of oaths and the threat of the provost 
to throw every loaf of bread off from the Marmora 
cliff Into the sea. 

Cyrus Hamlin replied, " I leave you the bread — 
eight thousand loaves — and you can do what you please 
with It," and then immediately left him without saying 
more. 

The provost was placed In a dilemma. If the bread 
were destroyed, there would be none for the soldiers 
the following morning, for it could not now be obtained 
from any other source. He was obliged to accept It. 
On the following Saturday he again protested, but the 
^ " My Life and Times," by Cyrus Hamlin, p. 342. 

213 



HERO TALES 

bread was left as usual and the receipts again brought 
back. The day before the third Saturday, the provost 
himself added a note to the order for bread: " Re- 
member the double delivery Saturday.'* 

It is a striking illustration, as Mr. Hamlin adds 
in telling the story, of the way difficulties will vanish, 
when any one is really in earnest about the observance 
of God's day. 

The large bakeries and mills of Cyrus Hamlin were 
a success In every way. Besides the benefit of good food 
for the English, they furnished employment to the many 
men whom Mr. Hamlin had been so anxious to aid. At 
the end of the Crimean war the persecutions had nearly 
ceased, and there was no reason why each should not 
be able to support himself. It was in fact better for 
them to assume this responsibility, and so the industrial 
operations with which Mr. Hamlin had been so iden- 
tified came to an end. 

In order to secure the safety of these industries it 
had been necessary to keep something of a balance on 
hand and when all these operations, sometimes amount- 
ing to the value of fifty thousand dollars a month, were 
finally concluded, an unexpectedly large balance was 
found to remain. Including the cost of a little patronage 
and chapel at Rodosto, and a church, earthquake proof, 
which had been built at Brusa for twenty-seven hundred 
dollars, it amounted to twenty-five thousand dollars. 

Dr. Hamlin writes about the disposal thus : 

214 



CYRUS HAMLIN 

" The question then arose, what should I do with 
it? It was plain that I ought not, as a missionary, to 
claim any part of it for myself. Besides, I had passed 
safely through years of hard service, involving an 
amount of night labor not often borne with impunity; 
that result was the price of blood, and should be conse- 
crated. It was finally determined to make a church 
building fund of It, to aid the feeble nascent churches 
in erecting their first buildings. It paid off the onerous 
debt of the Brusa church which was destroyed. The 
other churches aided were eleven; thirteen in all. As 
the buildings erected secured both church and school- 
house, they were timely and cheering helps. I obtained 
permission to sell off the material remaining at the 
ovens, and bring my two eldest daughters to America 
to place them at school and to go and come by steam. 
All missionary voyages were then by sail. I sold every- 
thing connected with the industries, except a pair of 
scales which I purchased for weighing gold coins. 

" The proceeds were more than the expenses of 
travel. When I returned to Constantinople, I had forty 
dollars in pocket, which I gave to a church building 
committee ; and of all those works I have retained noth- 
ing, absolutely nothing, but memories and a pair of 
scales. I am firm in the conviction that under the cir- 
cumstances it was all good missionary work, and no 
desecration of the missionary name." ^ 

^ Hamlin's "Among the Turks," pp. 258, 259. 

215 



HERO TALES 

The story of Cyrus Hamlin's life is a remarkable 
one. The history of his business Industries In Con- 
stantinople Is but one chapter, although one of the most 
Interesting of a wonderfully varied and successful life. 
Near the close of his autobiography, " My Life and 
Tlmes,'^ from which most of the material for this tale 
Is drawn, In looking back over his life, Cyrus Hamlin 
says : '' I can see that my life has been a varied one, 
and that one lesson it gives Is that it is not in man that 
walketh to direct his steps. My first fancy in life was 
to be a farmer. I became a silversmith and jeweler. 
My aspiration then was to become an Importer, after 
reaching majority; I became a student. I resolved to 
be a missionary, and to do whatever work should be 
given to me to do, and to sacrifice forever all aspiration 
to wealth or learning. I resolved to go to Africa ; I was 
shunted off to China first, and then most unexpectedly 
to Turkey and to education as my life's work. Dating 
from my acceptance and appointment by the American 
Board, I was twenty-three years, 1 837-1 860, connected 
with the Board, then thirteen years In founding, build- 
ing, and fighting for Robert College, and bringing It 
forward to marvellous success, then four years In almost 
fruitless and unhappy efforts for an endowment, three 
years professor of theology In Bangor Seminary, five 
years president of Middlebury College, as hath been 
said." 1 

* "My Life and Times," pp. 521, 522. 
216 



CYRUS HAMLIN 

Cyrus Hamlin never lived among the clouds. He 
trod the solid* earth, but with feet consecrated to God's 
service. With entire devotion to the will of his heaven- 
ly Father, and the need of his fellow men, he placed 
behind him all opportunities for wealth, and died as he 
had lived, a poor man. The talents which might have 
won him a fortune and countless luxuries, he spent upon 
practical endeavors for the good of mankind — physical, 
mental and spiritual. He helped to win bread for hun- 
gry men, he aided in building and carrying on schools 
and colleges for their young people, and he brought the 
word of life to those who lived in darkness. 

The things which most impress us are his versatility 
and his power. The failure he mentioned above, that 
of procuring the necessary endowment for Robert Col- 
lege, was largely due to circumstances beyond his con- 
trol. In almost every effort of his life, whether build- 
ing an engine or writing a book, whether organizing a 
school or superintending the washing of clothes for an 
army, everywhere he was a success. 

He was a hero who did things, not a dreaming saint. 
To those who intend much but never stir slow hands to 
action, who see the vision but never really grasp the 
opportunity, he brings the message, *' Awake ! " There 
is but one step between vision and service, but without 
that step all Is useless. Cyrus Hamlin was a man of 
splendid action. 



217 



XVII 
A Christian Patriot 



THE very essence of Shintoism is patriotism. The 
love of country is one of Japan's strongest vir- 
tues. It is not strange, therefore, that we should find in 
a Japanese hero one of the most illustrious examples of 
patriotism that the nineteenth century has shown. It is, 
however, remarkable that this Japanese, Joseph Hardy 
Neesima, was a Christian patriot, and the circumstances 
through which he was divinely led to his exalted views 
of Christian virtue and true national development are 
full of interest to any who are looking with open eyes 
to behold the coming of the Kingdom in these recent 
years. The evolution, the unfolding under the guiding 
providence of God, of Joseph Neesima's ideal of what 
he owed his country, was a wonderful process. No one 
but a truly great man could have struggled upward 
alone from the darkness to such a mountain top of 
vision as that on which Neesima stood. Even when he 
first left his native country to seek an education in Amer- 

218 



A CHRISTIAN PATRIOT 

ica, he was searching blindly for some way In which 
he might some time help his native land. As he said: 
" If I fail in my attempt altogether, it may be no least 
loss for my country; but if I am permitted to come home 
after my long exile to yet unknown lands I may render 
some service to my dear country." ^ As the years 
passed, this purpose and aim became more clear and 
more lofty until at last he was able to kindle a great 
light for the illumining of the dark places in his island 
home. 

Joseph Neesima, or Neeslma Shimeta, as his Japan- 
ese name is, was born in the palace of a prince, in the 
city of Tokyo, February 12, 1843. ^is father was 
the writing-master of the little court and lived with- 
in the royal enclosures, so that Neesima was from 
the very beginning associated with the best in Japanese 
life. 

All the country of Japan at that time was governed 
by the feudal system. The mikado, the mysterious, 
almost divine ruler of the nation, was the nominal head 
of the empire, but the entire control of the government 
in fact lay in the shogun and the two hundred and sixty- 
eight military barons or daimio, each of whom ruled 
Independently within his own little realm. 

Neesima's prince was a man of remarkable fore- 
sight and wisdom, considering his limited opportunities, 

* As quoted in " Life and Letters of Joseph Hardy Neesima," by 
A. S. Hardy, p. 38. 

219 



HERO TALES 

and when In 1853 the American fleet under Com- 
modore Perry appeared in Japanese waters, and the 
government, knowing Itself helpless to make the slight- 
est resistance, gave to Americans free entry into cer- 
tain of its ports, he perceived clearly the need of 
some better military organization and method of 
fighting. 

The country was helpless, infantile in power, be- 
fore the strong nations of Europe. It was a beautiful 
little land, a quiet world shut away from the hurry and 
confusion of modern life, a world in which simplicity 
and neatness made even the humblest home attractive, 
a nation full of reverence for the aged and the high 
in rank, but ignorant of God and of the past with all 
its learning, its literature, its discoveries, its inventions, 
its progress — a child among the nations. 

In this Japanese day-dawning, Neesima's prince 
looked about upon his people with foreboding at their 
lack of wisdom and did his best to help his own province. 
He was well educated in the Chinese classics and was 
recognized as " the finest scholar among the princes." ^ 
Men of learning were welcome at his court, and one 
scholar. Dr. Sugita, was invited there to teach Dutch. 
Three young men from among the prince's subjects were 
selected and Joseph Neesima was one of these. 

By command of the prince Neesima Shimeta also 
began to practise riding and fencing when only eleven 
^ ««Life and Letters,** p. 22. 
220 



A CHRISTIAN PATRIOT 

years of age and continued In this for three years. All 
of the subjects of that little province, except those 
actually enfeebled by old age, were required to take 
lessons In fencing and riding, and the education of the 
children also was made compulsory. 

At the age of twenty-two Neeslma Shimeta had 
acquired great proficiency In the art of penmanship, 
of which his father was a professor, a knowledge of 
Chinese and Dutch, and some acquaintance with physics, 
astronomy and mathematics. He was a Japanese gentle- 
man, well trained In the religion and the morality of his 
parents, and In the polite customs and courtesies of 
his prince's court. He had caught glimpses of greater 
truths through such books as a historical geography of 
the United States, and a Chinese missionary's " History 
of the World." His hunger for wisdom rendered 
him alert for every crumb of knowledge. Among the 
books which fell Into his hands was a Chinese Bible 
History. This volume revealed God to Neeslma 
Shimeta. 

Many years afterward he wrote of this event: " I 
found out that the world we live upon was created by 
his unseen hand, and not by a mere chance. I discov- 
ered In the same History his other name was the 
* Heavenly Father,' which created In me more reverence 
towards him, because I thought he was more to me than 
a mere creator of the world. All these books helped 
me to behold a being somewhat dimly yet in my mental 

221 



HERO TALES 

eye, who was so blindly concealed from me during the 
first two decades of my life. 

" Not being able to see any foreign missionaries 
then, I could not obtain any explanations on many points, 
and I wished at once to visit a land where the gospel 
is freely taught, and from whence teachers of God's 
words were sent out. Having recognized God as my 
heavenly Father, I felt I was no longer inseparably 
bound to my parents. I discovered for the first time 
that the doctrines of Confucius on the filial relation were 
too narrow and fallacious. I said then, * I am no more 
my parents', but my God's.' A strong cord which had 
held me strongly to my father's home was broken asun- 
der at that moment. I felt then that I must take my 
own course. I must serve my Heavenly Father more 
than my earthly parents. This new idea gave me 
courage to make a decision to forsake my prince, and 
also to leave my home and my country temporarily." ^ 

This resolution was carried out. Through the invi- 
tation of a friend he left his father's home for a voyage 
to Hakodate, and from there managed to escape to 
Shanghai, where he obtained an opportunity to work 
his way to the United States. The escape was a perilous 
one, for if caught he would have been punished by 
death, but all went well, and in August, 1865, just four 
months after leaving China, Neesima Shimeta arrived 
in Boston. 

* As quoted in ** Life and Letters," pp. 30, 31, 

222 



A CHRISTIAN PATRIOT 

His overwhelming desire for an education still 
seemed to have little promise of fulfilment. Unable to 
speak the new language except in monosyllables, with- 
out money and without friends, how was a poor for- 
eigner to obtain the leisure and means necessary for an 
education? But at the very outset of his life in a 
Christian land Neesima Shimeta found a friend, a sec- 
ond father, whose loving interest and help never failed 
him until in 1887 Alpheus Hardy passed from this life. 
Without this foster-father the story of Neesima's life 
would have been far different. 

Mr. Alpheus Hardy was the owner of the ship 
Wild Rover, on which Neesima reached Boston, and he 
was duly informed by the captain of the strange passen- 
ger who had been brought back to America. As the 
young man was unable to explain in words his reasons 
for leaving Japan, he was sent to the Sailors' Home 
where he succeeded in putting into writing a brief and 
most remarkable statement regarding himself. Through 
this account Mr. Hardy was led to assume the responsi- 
bility of his schooling, and the following letter was sent 
by Neesima on learning of this fact: 

'' I am very thankful to you. You relief me, but I 
can't show to you my thankfulness with my words. But 
I at all times bless to God for you with this prayer : O 
God ! if thou hast eyes, look upon me. O God ! if thou 
hast ears, hear my prayer. Let me be civilized with 
Bible. O Lord ! thou send thy Spirit upon my Hardy, 

223 



HERO TALES 

and let him relief me from sad condition. O Lord! 
please ! set thy eyes upon my Hardy, and keep out him 
from illness and temptation. 

" Your obedient servant, 

" Joseph Neesima.^' ^ 

It was decided that Neesima should enter Phillips 
Academy, and late in September he was taken thither 
by his friends, the Hardys. There he remained for 
two years, studying English, natural science and mathe- 
matics, with much help from kind people in the house 
where he lived. He made friends everywhere, and 
those most closely associated with him in Andover 
wrote to Mr. and Mrs. Hardy concerning him in terms 
of highest praise. 

Although he had had no preparation in Latin or 
Greek he entered Amherst as a special student in 1867, 
where he remained for three years, receiving the degree 
of B.S. with the class of 1870. In the fall of that same 
year he entered Andover Seminary to complete the 
preparation for his life's work. 

From the time when Christian truth first reached 
him in Japan, Joseph Neesima seems to have followed 
the light as it was revealed to him. It was for the sake 
of learning more of the truth concerning God as well 
as for mere secular knowledge that he braved the perils 
of the unknown West. One of his early Andover 

^ As quoted in «* Life and Letters,'* p. 12. 
224 



A CHRISTIAN PATRIOT 

friends wrote regarding him after an acquaintance of 
twenty-two months: " His religious progress has been 
remarkable. I think he was converted before he reached 
Andover. As soon as truth reached his mind he seemed 
to be all ready to embrace It." ^ 

He joined the church while still in Phillips Exeter, 
almost a year and a half after reaching America. It 
seemed to him but the natural thing for him to do. 
He loved Jesus more than anything else. He needed 
help In the difficult battle which he was preparing to 
wage In behalf of truth and righteousness. Why should 
he not avail himself at once and without hesitation of 
this means of strength and joy? 

All through the story of Joseph Neeslma's life we 
see the simple, happy character of his Christian experi- 
ence. His simplicity was childlike. Although an Ori- 
ental he was genuine and sincere to his heart's core. He 
was a great sufferer from rheumatism and his health 
was at no time robust, but he always spoke even of his 
pain with perfect directness, neither exaggerating nor 
minimizing what he had undergone. In money affairs 
he was equally exact and simple, always giving account 
for that which he had received with deep gratitude, but 
neither groveling nor hesitant In asking for what he 
really needed. " No one ever saw anything mean In 
him: there was nothing dishonorable In his make-up. 

^ Letter from Ephraim Flint, Jr., quoted in «< Life and Letters," 
p. 69. 

225 



HERO TALES 

He was modest, patient, brave, and the highest reach 
of his ambition was to lose himself in the consecration 
of his life and thought to his Master." ^ 

" Neesima possessed that element of true worth 
which meets with recognition, not because it is con- 
sciously revealed but because it is not. He was never 
obtrusive. I never knew him to speak of himself, or 
even of what he hoped to accomplish, unless questioned ; 
then one discovered that his ambition was to do not only 
for Japan but for the world. It would not be easy for 
any one who knew him in college to forget him even if 
his life had ended there; for there was in him an up- 
lifting influence which made one wish to be on the 
heights where he lived and walked. He seemed to be 
there and to belong there without any sign of struggle 
to get there or to stay there." ^ 

When Joseph Neesima left Japan he had the strong 
hope that some day he might be able to bring back to 
it some good from that strange, new, civilized country 
to which he went. Not many months passed before it 
became clear that this great good would come from 
the Christianity which he loved so ardently. As the 
months went by it was brought about through various 
events that Neesima's attention was turned more and 
more to the methods of education in the New World, 
and as he studied these more in detail he came to realize 

^ As quoted in ** Life and Letters," p. 73. 
' Ibid., pp. 73, 74. 

226 



A CHRISTIAN PATRIOT 

that only through education could the higher classes In 
his own country be led Into the new religion. The edu- 
cation of the West was already about to enter Japan 
hand In hand with its civilization. The introduction of 
scientific studies and the tendency toward agnosticism 
which learning without religion too often brings, would 
poison the soul life of the little island nation. Filled 
with learned men who lacked the restraining influence 
of a high moral motive, Japan would be In far worse 
case than it already was with its simple, childlike sub- 
jects. Japan must be saved by Christian education. 
To commence this great work, to help accomplish this, 
became the paramount aim of Joseph Neesima's life. 

In 1872, when Neeslma was in his second year at 
Andover Seminary, a most important Japanese Embassy 
visited the United States. It was sent out to study the 
various institutions of the more enlightened nations, 
especially those most suitable for imitation In Japan, 
and report concerning them. In their study of the edu- 
cational Institutions of the United States Neeslma was 
asked to assist. He acted as Interpreter for them, and 
was of very great service both because of his own quick 
observation and because of the knowledge and experi- 
ence he had already gained. At the close of their travel 
in the United States he was Invited to accompany them 
abroad and after much hesitation decided to do so. In 
all this time until his return to Andover Seminary, which 
was about a year and a half, excellent opportunities were 

227 



HERO TALES 

afforded him for observing educational institutions of 
all sorts with their various aims, ideals and methods. 

When he at last returned to complete his seminary 
course, Joseph Neesima was admirably fitted to become 
the apostle of Christian education In Japan. 

One thing had always hampered him, lack of health. 
With weakened eyes and a constant tendency toward 
rheumatism, throughout his life, he was hindered 
often from accomplishing many things. Much of his 
time abroad was spent in the endeavor to recover his 
health, but during this last year at the seminary he was 
comparatively free from sickness and studied persist- 
ently until its close. In the spring of that year he was 
appointed as a missionary by the American Board of 
Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 

It was at the annual meeting of this Board, held 
in Rutland, Vermont, that he made the unexpected ap- 
peal for a Christian university In Japan, which resulted 
so marvelously In the founding of the Doshisha. The 
need of such an institution of learning had long been 
In his mind, and he could not be satisfied to leave Amer- 
ica without making such an appeal. So excited and dis- 
turbed was he by his great hope and the uncertainty of 
its reception by the Board that he found it Impossible 
to make adequate preparation for his speech, and could 
only pray for the help of God In his undertaking. " On 
the following day," he writes, " when I appeared on 
the stage, I could hardly remember my prepared piece 

228 



■■^^i 



A CHRISTIAN PATRIOT 

— a poor untried speaker; but after a minute I recov- 
ered myself, and my trembling knees became firm and 
strong ; a new thought flashed into my mind, and I spoke 
something quite different from my prepared speech. 
My whole speech must have lasted less than fifteen min- 
utes. While I was speaking I was moved with the most 
intense feeling over my fellow countrymen, and I shed 
much tears instead of speaking in their behalf. But 
before I closed my poor speech about five thousand dol- 
lars were subscribed on the spot to found a Christian 
college in Japan." ^ 

The enthusiasm aroused by Neesima at this meeting 
was remarkable. No formal action was taken by the 
Board, but the entire audience were thrilled by his ap- 
peal and the response was a generous one. " Swept 
away by his feelings, refusing to resume his seat until 
his appeal was answered, declaring that he would not 
return to Japan without the money he asked for and 
that he should stand on that platform until he got it, 
the young Japanese carried his audience with him. 
Hon. Peter Parker of Washington rose and subscribed 
one thousand dollars; Ex-Governor Page of Vermont 
and Hon. William E. Dodge of New York, followed 
with like sums, and before Mr. Neesima had finished, 
his day-dream had become a reality. 

" Towards the end of October, after an absence 
of nearly ten years, he left New York for Japan, via 
^ As quoted in "Life and Letters," p. 172. 
229 



HERO TALES 

San Francisco, the first ordained evangelist of his 
race." ^ 

The life-work of Joseph Neesima was begun. The 
story of the successful founding and developing of the 
Doshisha is the story of his triumph, and fifteen years 
of life remained to him in Japan for achieving this 
success. It was not an easy struggle. A great deal of 
opposition was exerted by the government against the 
institution before it finally became friendly toward it, 
and the school suffered many limitations for a long time 
on this account. 

The American Board itself was doubtful concerning 
this new offspring which had been thrust thus upon its 
care, and doubtful as to how far they were justified in 
helping it financially instead of spending the money for 
directly evangelical work. 

There were misunderstandings among the teachers 
and missionaries themselves. As the number of native 
coworkers increased, Mr. Neesima was often placed in 
a position of difficulty between them and the American 
teachers. Having become so much of an American by 
training, he was the natural go-between, or middleman, 
and the direct, uncompromising methods of the Ameri- 
can missionaries, brought into contrast with the easy 
diplomacy of the Japanese, often produced antagonism 
and misunderstanding between the two. It seemed to 
be Mr. Neesima's lot to stand in peculiarly close rela- 
^ ''Life and Letters," p. 173. 
230 



A CHRISTIAN PATRIOT 

tions to many classes. His own fellow countrymen, the 
students, the native preachers, the American Board, the 
missionaries, and his interested friends in America all 
turned naturally to him as the one to settle all difficul- 
ties and the strain sometimes seemed almost more than 
he could bear. 

It was necessary for him to be a beggar in behalf 
of his beloved college to the end of his life. Oh, the 
pity that so many great souls must needs be worn out 
asking for money! A college is always like a nest of 
hungry robins whose mouths are continually open, and 
the Doshisha was no exception. It became possible, 
however, toward the close of his life to make an appeal 
to the people of Japan for a university endowment, so 
great had been the change of attitude toward this 
Christian Institution. This meeting was held in the 
great Buddhist Temple of Kyoto, and officials of the 
province and city, and leading bankers and merchants 
were present. 

In 1876 Joseph Neeslma was married to Yamamoto 
Yaye, a teacher In a government school for girls, and 
the sister of a counselor whom he esteemed very highly. 
She was, of course, a Christian, and was an efficient 
wife and helpful companion to him throughout his life. 

In 1884 Mr. Neeslma was requested by the Ameri- 
can Board to take such a rest as might be necessary on 
account of his health, and yielding to the solicitations 
of friends, he returned to America once more. But 

231 



HERO TALES 

nothing could effect a permanent cure, and after a long 
time of feebleness, guarded by wife and friends alike 
from every unnecessary burden, it became evident that 
the end could not much longer be averted. He was in a 
little Japanese inn in Oiso, destitute of all comforts, 
when death came on the twenty-third of January, 1889. 

Up to the last his good cheer and determination to 
do all that was possible never failed him. " Though I 
am often disgusted with this world's affairs,'' he wrote 
not many months before his death, " I am bound to live 
through and push through all I can for Christ." ^ 

His last messages, dictated on the day before his 
death, are significant of his great ambition, and of his 
clear judgment as to the way in which it might be ful- 
filled. 

" The object of the Doshisha," he said, " is the ad- 
vancement of Christianity, Literature, and Science, and 
the furtherance of all education. These are to be pur- 
sued together as mutually helpful. The object of the 
education given by the Doshisha is not Theology, Liter- 
ature, or Science, in themselves ; but that through these, 
men of great and living power may be trained up for 
the service of true freedom and their country. 

" The trustees should deal wisely and kindly with 
the students. The strong and impetuous should not be 
harshly dealt with, but according to their nature, so as 
to develop them into strong and useful men. 

1 As quoted in "Life and Letters," p. 324. 
232 



A CHRISTIAN PATRIOT 

" As the school grows larger there Is danger that It 
will become more and more mechanical. Let this be 
carefully guarded against. 

" Every care must be taken to unite the foreign and 
Japanese teachers together In love, that they may work 
without friction. I have many times stood between the 
two and have had much trouble. In the future I ask 
the trustees to do as I have done. 

" In my whole life I have not desired to make an 
enemy, and I look upon no one with hatred. If, how- 
ever, you find any one who feels unfriendly towards me, 
please ask his forgiveness. I find no fault with heaven, 
and bear no malice towards my fellow men. . . . My 
feeling for the Doshisha is expressed in this poem : 

" ' When the cherry blossoms open on Mt. Yoshino, 

Morning and evening I am anxious about the fleecy clouds 
on its summit.' " ^ 

Joseph Hardy Neeslma was a true Christian, and 
he was also a man with a lofty and invincible purpose. 
Although gentle and self-effacing, he was a man of 
mighty power and marvelous wisdom. Every one, even 
those who did not agree with him, were compelled to 
admire and honor him. His personality bore close 
scrutiny well. He was best beloved by those who knew 
him best. He Impressed people who were closely asso- 
ciated with him, not as a masterful man, but as one 
great through faith. 

^ As quoted in *' Lite and Letters," pp. 326, 327. 



HERO TALES 

" Some of the attributes which go to make up the 
brilliancy of leadership, he did not possess, but those 
which make examples and Inspire imitation, single- 
ness of purpose, loyalty to duty, self-abnegation, gentle 
conduct, and overflowing love, were his to a marked 
degree.'* ^ 

He has left the impress of his wonderful character 
upon Japan. Without him his country might have been 
as scholarly, as cultivated, as worldly wise as it is to- 
day, but he has made it a better nation than it would 
have been, and the seed which he sowed has only begun 
as yet to bring forth its mighty harvest. 

^ «*Life and Letters," p. 346. 



234 



XVIII 

Afterword 



GREAT reason have we to be proud as we look 
back over the years of Congregationalism. 
Short as her life has been compared with the historj^ 
of other churches, her heroes have accomplished much. 
Without her the Middle States would have been far 
different from what they are to-day; without her the 
United States might have been bounded on the west by 
the Rocky Mountains; without her thousands of Chris- 
tians in foreign lands would still live in ignorance of 
the true God; without her New England would have 
been — ^just what we cannot tell, but vastly different from 
the New England which we love and of which we boast. 
What would our Constitution have been without Hook- 
er? As Congregationalists we have helped to modify 
not only the churches but the political views of the 
Western world. 

The great snow-storm of the winter is just passed. 
The wind has ceased its tumultuous blasts, and the snow 

235 



HERO TALES 

lies heaped In great drifts on every side. The sun Is 
shining brightly now, and is reflected back from the 
dazzling whiteness of the snow crust which Is beginning 
to form over all the field. Every flake which helps to 
make up that beautiful snow crust shines out with all 
its white purity. But down beneath the snow crust, 
upholding it and hidden from sight, are the great masses 
of snowflakes, unseen, but no less pure and no less 
beautiful than those above. 

So with our Congregational heroes. We know only 
a few of those whose lives In the fierce white light of 
fame shine pure and radiant, beautiful with heroic 
deeds. Only a few are called to stand in that light ; the 
great mass of heroes, like the snowflakes beneath, are 
hidden In obscurity. With unseen deeds and un- 
heralded sainthood each one lives nobly and purely, 
keeping himself spotless and holy, known fully to God 
alone. 

But without these unknown multitudes the sermons 
which were preached would never have been practised; 
without their gifts the missionaries would never have 
been sent; without their lives the coming of the May- 
flower Pilgrims would have been In vain. All the hero 
tales of Congregationalism can never be written, for If 
they were " the world Itself could not contain the books 
that would be written." 

But all unknown and unwritten, still they are our 
heroes, the great army of saints, by whom our Church 

236 



AFTERWORD 

has been upheld, and for them, as well as for the shining 
ones, we would sing praises. 

" For all the saints who from their labors rest, 
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, 
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blessed. 
Alleluia! Alleluia ! " 



237 



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